The film "Chinatown(1974)" was inspired by the "California Water Wars". Which was happened in Los Angeles during the late 1800s. It began when Frederick Eaton became the mayor of Los Angeles in 1898. He appointed his friend William Mulholland to be the head of the the superintendent of the newly created Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. But as the population of LA grew, the water supply was not enough to supply everyone in LA. Therefore, Eaton decided to build an aqueduct. So the water could flow from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles. Later on, the United States Bureau of Reclamation was planning on building an irrigation system to help the farmers of the Owens Valley, which would block Los Angeles from diverting the water. Eaton and Mulholland uses underhanded method to make sure to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from getting the water rights. After 1913, the Owens Valley is turning into a desert. Mulholland was blocked from obtaining additional water so he decided to take all the water away from Owens Valley. By 1924, the farmers rebelled and blown up part of the system with dynamite to get their water back.
Throughout the film, we can see a lot of connections between the film and the real incident. Firstly, the plot of "Chinatown" directed by Roman Polanski is about a private investigator Jake Gittes was hired to find out what is behind the death of Hollis I. Mulwray the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In the film we can also see the conflict between the farmers and the water department. Which was shown in the scene where Gittes was beaten up by the farm keepers because they thought he is an agent that was sent by the department to ruin their water supply. This implies the idea of the conflict between the farmers of the Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in real life.
Secondly, when Mulwray opposes the dam that Noah Cross and the city want, arguing he will not repeat his previous mistake as when his dam broke, resulting in the deaths of hundreds. This reminds me of the disaster of the St. Francis Dam, the dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 and killed 600 people. This has ended Mulholland's career.
Lastly, The character of Hollis Mulwray refers to William Mulholland. As we can see both of them are the superintendent and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Also, their name are similar to each others.
After looking at the incident of The California Water Wars, I have found some significant c
Throughout the film, we can see a lot of connections between the film and the real incident. Firstly, the plot of "Chinatown" directed by Roman Polanski is about a private investigator Jake Gittes was hired to find out what is behind the death of Hollis I. Mulwray the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In the film we can also see the conflict between the farmers and the water department. Which was shown in the scene where Gittes was beaten up by the farm keepers because they thought he is an agent that was sent by the department to ruin their water supply. This implies the idea of the conflict between the farmers of the Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in real life.
Secondly, when Mulwray opposes the dam that Noah Cross and the city want, arguing he will not repeat his previous mistake as when his dam broke, resulting in the deaths of hundreds. This reminds me of the disaster of the St. Francis Dam, the dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 and killed 600 people. This has ended Mulholland's career.
Lastly, The character of Hollis Mulwray refers to William Mulholland. As we can see both of them are the superintendent and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Also, their name are similar to each others.
After looking at the incident of The California Water Wars, I have found some significant c