Jaws (1975)

Jaws (1975)
Rating: * * * * (out of 4)
Reviewed by George Lau

Cast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton and Jeffrey Kramer Director: Steven Spielberg Producer: David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck Screenplay: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb based on the Novel by Peter Benchley Cinematographer: Bill Butler Editor: Verna Fields Music: John Williams Running Time: 124 minutes MPAA Classification: PG

`You're gonna need a bigger boat,' cites Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) upon viewing his first glance of the killer shark in Steven Spielberg's 1975 masterpiece, `Jaws.' The fact that this is also the audience's first glance of the shark and that it takes place almost an hour and a half into the film is what makes `Jaws' such a great film. By not showing the shark in the first two thirds of the film director Spielberg generates much more fear when he shows attacks. We, the audience, don't see what is attacking the swimmers and so we create in our own imaginations a greater fear than any director could ever project on screen. The fact that Spielberg didn't plan on doing this only makes it better; you see when it came time to shoot the attack scenes the mechanical shark, named Bruce after Spielberg's lawyer, wasn't properly working so Spielberg couldn't show it all.

The story begins in Amity Island when, in one of the greatest opening scenes of all-time, a teenager partying on the beach with some friends decides to go skinny-dipping. All of a sudden something starts attacking her, and although she is able to momentarily grab onto a buoy, she is eventually pulled under the water and, we assume, killed.

The next morning Brody, the local Police Chief who hates the water, is called in to investigate a possible drowning reported by a friend of the girl who was attacked. Brody's Deputy has discovered the remains of the girl's body, which has washed up on shore, and the possibility of a drowning is ruled out.

Brody's gut reaction is to close down the beaches but the local Mayor (Murray Hamilton) insists on keeping to beaches open for business reasons. The Mayor informs Brody that, `Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars.' And Brody is forced to keep the beaches open. Soon after, another attack claims the life of a little boy and the Mayor announces that the beaches will be closed for 24 hours to try to catch the beast that is responsible.

Enter, ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who confirms that the first attack was one of a shark. Later in a scene where Hooper and Brody go out to sea at night to try and find the shark Hooper discovers a tooth in an abandoned fishing boat at the bottom of the sea, a tooth that could only belong to a Great White Shark. Then, without notice, while examining the tooth the fisherman who owned the boat's head appears and frightens Hooper into losing the tooth. According to the Internet Movie Database preview audiences screamed at the original version of this scene, but director Spielberg re-shot it because he wanted them to scream louder.

Eventually, the town has to turn to a loner/shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw) who has promised the shark dead for ten thousand dollars. Quint reluctantly agrees to allow Brody and Hooper accompany him on the mission and the three men sail off to sea on what Brody has described to his kids as a fishing trip. Quint at first resents Hooper's rich upbringing but in a great scene where the three men (mainly Hooper and Quint) sit and talk about their physical and emotional scars they develop a sort of bond. Quint's tale is the most horrifying, one of how during WWII after delivering the atom bomb his ship was sunk by torpedoes and he and his crew of 1,100 men went into shark infested waters. Waters that only 316 men would come out of alive. And with this scene, which was written by Shaw himself, we understand why Quint has dedicated his life to killing sharks. Shortly after, the shark begins his final attack on the men, a battle that not all the men will emerge from alive.

`Jaws' (Spielberg's second film) was filmed for $12 million and would go on to be the first film to take in more than a $100 million at the box office (it wound up taking in $260 million in the US alone). The filming was plagued with problems, ranging from the complications with the mechanical shark to budgetary problems to author Peter Benchley's objection to the movie's ending. The film also went on to get 4 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won in the othet three categories for Best Sound, Best Editing (Verna Fields), and Best Original Score (John Williams). The editing and score are so crucial to success of the film. Roger Ebert said that the film, `Jaws' was a good story told brilliantly and he's absolutely right, without these two key elements the film wouldn't be what it is. Try watching the attack scenes muted, they're not nearly as scary as with the haunting theme. Or consider the way the attacks are handled. Not only does the score help create suspense but also the cuts from under water to above showing the shark fin to views from the beach of the attack. These scenes handled another, more simplistic way wouldn't have produced the same effect that they do here.

`Jaws' placed 48th on the AFI's list of the 100 Greatest American Films and it's high placement on the list, in my opinion, is deserved. `Jaws' is a highly influential film that not only spawned three inferior sequels but countless other rip-offs (the recent `Lake Placid' and `Deep Blue Sea' comes to mind.) But none of these films managed to capture any of the atmosphere that the original `Jaws' did.

I heard recently that, Peter Benchley, the author of the book of which the film is based said that he could not have written it today because of how it unfairly treats sharks. Is it true that all sharks are man-eating monsters? Of course not. Is it true that sharks purposely target humans the way they do in `Jaws?' Of course not. The truth of the matter is that most shark attacks occur because of the shark's stupidity (they usually mistake humans for seals). But knowing all of these facts I still can not step an inch in salt water and not hear the `Jaws' theme pop in my head. I'm still not sure whether this is a good thing or not, but there's no doubt in my mind that `Jaws' is a great film, one that, like other Spielberg masterpieces, stays with you long after your viewing experience is over.

Copyright 1999 George Lau