THE BIG GOODBYE. CHINATOWN AND THE FALL OF OLD HOLLYWOOD, SAM WASSON

Chinatown It is one of the most memorable films of what is perhaps the most memorable decade in American cinema. Regularly included on lists of the greatest films of all time, its exquisite blend of classicism and modernity, nostalgia and disenchantment, beauty and sordidness, has guaranteed it a special place in the hearts of countless film lovers worldwide, but until now no one had recounted in detail the incredible true story surrounding both the preparation and filming of this genuine Hollywood landmark. In the hands of Sam Wasson, the making of Chinatown It becomes the defining story of four of the most colorful and relevant figures in Hollywood during the sixties and seventies. Here we have Jack Nicholson, one of the greatest stars the medium has ever produced, at the most creative moment of his career, fresh from The last duty about to embark on his great and ill-fated love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here we have Roman Polanski, both prey and predator, haunted by the brutal murder of his wife, returning for the first time to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where he will soon sow the seeds of his own destruction. Here we have the feverish world of negotiations and speculation of Robert "The Kid" Evans, the consummate producer at the helm of Paramount during one of the studio's most glorious eras, under whose tutelage such extraordinary films as The Godfather, Harold and Maude, Paper moon, The confidant, A threat lurking in the shadows, The conversation, The Last Witness either Nashville. And here we also have Robert Towne, one of the most respected writers in Hollywood and winner of the Oscar precisely for the screenplay of Chinatown, widely considered the best original screenplay ever written.

Wasson, whose books include the biography Fosse and Fifth Avenue, 5 AM (a chronicle about the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's peels back the layers of the myth to tell for the first time the true story of the creation of this classic film with all its lights and shadows, interweaving the portraits of these four highly imperfect individuals and the way in which they came together just once to create an almost perfect work of art, against the backdrop of the disappearance of classic cinema and its replacement by the Hollywood of the large corporations that we know today.

An intelligent, insightful, and absorbing book, above all a landmark of American cinema. With its exuberant depiction of 1970s Hollywood, The Big Goodbye is underpinned by a fantastic level of journalistic detail while moving with the urgency of a novel.
— Julie Salamon, author of The Devil's Candy

"Much more than a mere biography of a cinematic milestone. His intensive documentary work has allowed him to create a tapestry so rich in detail that the characters come alive on the page. Fascinating and irresistible."
— Peter Biskind, author of Calm bikers, wild bulls

"A work of exquisite precision. Wasson is one of the great chroniclers of Hollywood's past and this time he has outdone himself."
— Janet Maslin, The New York Times

An exceptional film book that goes far beyond the simple history of a production. It's a work worthy of Chinatown; I can't imagine higher praise.
— Tom Charity, Sight and Sound

• Paperback with flaps
• 416 pages. 14 x 21.5 cm.
• Cover by Karolis Strautniekas
• ISBN: 978-84-17645-13-7