Exploring narrative in "Chinatown"

A narrative is an account of events in a play, novel or film and essentially means story. How a narrative is structured makes each story different and similar in ways. For example, a very simple narrative would be start with Beginning, Middle and End. This is the usual structure for a children's story as they are very straightforward themselves. An example could be "Goldie Locks and The Three Bears"; the beginning being the bears going out and the girl going into the cottage, then the middle- the girl staying in the cottage, then the bears coming home, the end- the girl running away (one version).
A film maker might use narrative in a film for a number of things. A few examples are as followed: to create cliff hangers when there is a twist, to show emotions, to bring a message across to the audience, show things in the world (problems) and to show different cultures (learn from films as we can sometimes relate to other people in story).
Looking at thrillers, I have noticed that the main typical narratives in thrillers are, detective stories- following a detective being undercover or doing a case of some sort, drug dealing and sex-related stories, guns, someone trying to find someone else, kidnapping, abduction, murder, money and a lot of corruption.
If I were to describe the narrative of "Chinatown", I think the sequence would be, the Beginning, Event/Disruption, Climax, Events/Disruption, Resolution, Problem and End. Although, I do think it is a confusing narrative so there could be a few views on what the structure is. The beginning for "Chinatown" starts with a detective Mr. Jake Gittes in an office, smoking and drinking, typical thriller signifiers. Next is an event/a disruption which I think is the water company scandal and a death. There are a vast amount of events which help make the narrative have twists and turns, making the audiences attention focus on the film more. Furthermore, Gittes and the audience find out that Katherine is in fact Evelyn's daughter and sister. This adds to the corruption. The resolution could be when Gittes remains loyal to Evelyn by helping her run away. Despite this attempt a problem arises when the police find her, with her father, Cross. The end concludes with another death and Katherine being taken away with Cross. The end is left as a slight cliff hanger, as it leaves you wondering what is going to happen next, especially to Katherine. The story seems unfinished. This would be a classic narrative for a thriller as things are not always unfolded and discovered.
The narrative perspective is told through Gittes, although he does not narrate, we see the story unfold through his view. I think the director could have done this mainly because, as he is a detective, we have an insight to what he does, making the film have more mystery as we follow the story. As he discovers things, the audience does too, which if the narrative perspective had been through, for instance, Evelyn Mulwray, it would have been very different to Jake's. We would have probably known more about Katherine.
As we 'follow' Jake, we see how he works things out and thinks of what to do. It keeps the audience intrigued. If we saw the narrative through the police's perspective, we would have seen different characters, heard different things, have a different view of what was happening and so forth. It is interesting when we see two sides of the story, towards the end where Gittes is helping Evelyn but then is (not purposely) with Cross too.
The spiralling narrative engages the audience by having plenty of twists and turns which help increase the tension and mystery. During the film, the characters are slowly given more purpose and we learn who they are, what they have done and how most of the characters are all linked. For example, Gittes goes to see Cross and discovers that he is Evelyn's father. This therefore makes an obvious connection, as they are family, but adds to more corruption because Gittes was not told by Mrs Mulwray.
Even more, things like gun shots, murder or/and violence all grab the audiences attention as it makes you wonder what is happening or is going to happen next. Also, camera shots help make things appear emphasised (important) and make sure that you notice it. For instance, a bird eyes view of a staircase will make you realise that the person may be scared of heights of the shot is to emphasise how high up a character is. Mise-en-scene and tone and atmosphere also increase an audiences concentration. For example, a enclosed lift could make someone feel claustrophobic as a lift usually is, when crowded and small.
Narrative in "Chinatown" is very important as it makes the sequence of events fall into place more easily, making the story easier to understand and also keep the audience interested. The twisting narrative can sometimes fool the audience which makes them want to keep watching. The sense of not knowing how the story will go, as "Chinatown"'s narrative structure is quite complex, it makes you think that it will be unlike another film. The narrative is important when you need to make a film in a particular way and in a particular perspective.