Jaws

Jaws 1975
Brought to us by Steven Spielberg (this being only his second cinema released director credit) who went on to direct some of the biggest films in cinema history including E.T, The Indiana Jones franchise, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, The Colour Purple and Empire Of The Sun. I could go on, but that’s what IMDB is for.
Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton

Nearing beach season and Independence Day, the tourist-dependent town Amity finds itself terrorised by a man-eating great white shark. Newly appointed chief of police Martin Brody (Scheider) who has a fear of the water must find a way to solve this problem, as the Mayor (Hamilton) tries to quell the panic, keep the beaches open and the tourists rolling in.
Brody eventually teams up with an oceanographer, Hooper (Dreyfuss), and a dogged, worn-down-by-life sailor, Quint (Shaw), to hunt down the killer.

The five named actors all did an excellent job but I’ll stick to the main three.

Roy Scheider’s Brody has the biggest story arc (as he should) from being a water fearing, clear outsider in the town to a hero climax. He doesn’t miss a beat once. His fear and paranoia keep us grounded as we go through the film, and his reaction before the “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” line is an amazing face of fear.

Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper adds some much needed light and humour to the movie. He is as good an actor in this film as I’ve ever seen. His performance is natural and fully believable. He manages to be both cocky and naive in his delivery

Robert Shaw as Quint…what can I say about this performance?
He’s absolutely amazing! He brings Quint to life. A mix of old English pirate and salty sea dog. He looks so at ease playing this character that you could easily think this is just Robert Shaw playing himself, but that was far from the case.

The three of them combine to be greater then the sum of their parts and without all of their strengths and weaknesses, Brody would not have prevailed at the end of the film. Hooper’s gas tank and Quint’s rifle (both of which were ridiculed by the other) were used by Brody at the end, and without the death of Quint, and with Hooper out of action, Brody would never have had to find the courage to step up.

The cinematography is beautiful. Bill Butler (Grease, Omen II, Rocky II, III and IV) rightfully takes credit for this. The opening shots could fool you into thinking this film was going to be a relaxing ride.

Spielberg’s direction is flawless and it isn’t just hindsight that lets you know that this 27 year old was going to go on to great things. He took a film that was getting scripts re-written for the day’s shoots just the night before, and props that didn’t work and managed to turn it into the first ever Summer blockbuster which, along with Star Wars, redefined the movie business. The malfunctioning shark left him with no choice but to shoot so much of the movie from the sharks PoV, which actually adds to the suspense way more then seeing multiple shots of it… necessity really is the mother of invention.

The score obviously needs mentioning. John Williams won the Oscar for Best Original Music Score for this film and rightly so. This theme struck fear into every 70’s and 80’s child, and more then a few adults too. But it’s not just the iconic dur-dum, dur-dum that should be remembered. The score as the boat is chasing the shark is beautiful too, a light-hearted pirate romp is what you hear. Also a great composer will know when to give you no music. The U.S.S Indianapolis speech (which I’ll talk more about later) has just a hint of violin behind it, letting you savour the performance even more.

A few things in this film elevate it from amazing to perfect in my opinion.

The humour is overlooked
This has some excellent humour in it but it gets lost a little in the horror. The “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” line is the perfect foil and release of tension to the jump scare that has just happened.

Quint
From his first fingernails down the blackboard entrance to his last scene he steals the show. There is almost 45 minutes from the end of his first scene to the next time he speaks. That’s amazing for a main character.

The dolly zoom
Not the first time it was ever used in film but probably the most effective use of the technique I’ve seen. The camera, on a track, getting closer to Brody as the lens zooms out. It is a piece of film that has stuck with me from the first time I saw it.

The Dining table scene with Brody and his youngest son Shaun
After a shitty day Brody is at his table, and has his head in his hands when his son starts to mimic his actions, Ellen Brody watching from the doorway. This two minute scene has more feels than a lot of other films have in their entirety.

The U.S.S Indianapolis speech
This five minute monologue is the best I’ve ever seen. One piece I read said Shaw rewrote the scene. In addition to being an Oscar-nominated actor, he was an award-winning writer of novels, plays and screenplays, so he took a crack at polishing up the monologue and he made it into something unforgettable. Spielberg asserts that the monologue was a joint effort between two screenwriters and Shaw, while others say that Shaw did the heavy lifting to make it so perfect. Whoever it was gets thunderous applause from me.
Also, if you get a chance to re-watch it, listen to Quint but watch Hooper listening to him. He looks at him like he understands the horror of what Quint went through. It’s outstanding acting from Dreyfuss. It, along with the ‘show me the way to go home’ song, acts like a call to arms for the trio to face the finale; before the scene they were three individuals, after it they had come together and bonded. Fucking excellent writing, directing and acting.

Another little bit of trivia about that scene.
Robert Shaw was initially uncertain how to play the scene so he decided that as the characters were drinking, he himself should have a few to loosen up a little. He proceeded to drink so much that he passed out and had to be carried back to the set. Late that night, Shaw called Spielberg, panicked, unable to remember if he had done anything embarrassing. He asked that they try the scene again tomorrow. The next day he nailed it in two takes.

I love this film, I know I’m not alone in saying that, but I REALLY love this film. It was the first movie I ever remember giving me nightmares but I couldn’t stop watching it. I can’t really remember how old I was but I’d guess I was nine when I first saw it, and I was younger when I read the Peter Benchley novel –
waking up early before your parents sometimes pays off! Someone asked me a few months ago to give them five perfect films and this one was top of my list.