1975's Jaws is a fictitious yarn about a Great White shark that attacks an unassuming girl, leaving only a mangled corpse that makes police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) raise the alarm to close Amity Island's beaches. When the mayor (Murray Hamilton) and his cronies refuse to shut down the beaches during tourist season, the shark continues to wreak havoc. Even a local bounty hunt fails to catch the maneater, causing Brody to team up with oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) and salty boat captain Quint (Robert Shaw) to hunt and kill the monstrous shark once and for all.
Before you come out and scream that books are always better than their movie counterparts, I'd like to point out that Peter Benchley's novel Jaws was wisely adapted by Spielberg to keep all the cool parts and ditch the bad, resulting in one genuinely solid movie that surpasses the book. Care was given to make the characters relate-able and likable--indeed, the actors help as they juggle levity and emotion that paints their characters as fully-dimensional human beings. It really helps that some subplots, including one where Hooper sleeps with Brody's wife, is excised completely (seriously, that stuff really killed the novel for me, good riddance).
The film banks on the threat of the shark to drive its story--even in the first half, set amidst the mundane bustle of a small seaside town, the tension is cranked up thanks to the political pressure Body faces. It's amplified in interesting ways, thanks largely to Spielberg's penchant for always having characters talk over each other and splitting their attention--I can't say I like this technique in other films he's made, but it works in Jaws as our own attention becomes split between all the mundane babble and the overarching threats Brody always eyeballs. The film proceeds to string the audience along with its tension, using little more than shots of a single dorsal fin skimming the ocean--this leads to one or two fake-outs, but the inevitable payoff may elicit a startling scream all the same. This ultimately builds up to a nearly hour-long finale where the leads board the Orca and face the shark head-on--the film still finds time to wedge in chemistry and character-building, but the final hunt remains captivating as the boat falls apart and the three heroes face constant problems, before "Bruce" makes his final lunge. Suffice to say, all of the film's thrills work phenomenally thanks to its content and style.
A simple story, but one told well thanks to its dedicated performances, creditable location shooting, and quality of production. The cinematography is often pleasing, using postcard-like composition to bring out the rugged charm of the town and the sea--it really helps that the crew built rigs and watertight camera boxes to film at sea as well as they did. Even with such gear, however, the production went 100 days over schedule and millions of dollars over budget--the cast and crew alike pulled long hours across this strenuous shoot, having to face challenges with the ocean and malfunctions with the mechanical shark. Limitations ultimately forced Spielberg to cut the film with less of the shark shown, but the film is all the better for it since it achieves a "less is more" effect. Like a Hitchcock film, Jaws builds tension through suggestion and the careful reveal of details (and this is an effect that would further influence Gareth Edwards with Monsters and 2014's Godzilla). Part of Jaws' success stems from John Williams' score, which further emphasizes threat with the simple, minimalist use of strings. To this day, you'll likely hear the theme's gradual build and feel chills as if you are indeed being hunted by a shark.
Spielberg might have been in over his head regarding the production--this being his third feature-length film, his ego and inexperience probably made this a bigger pain in the butt than it needed to be, but it is refreshing to read his current reflections, in which he humbly admits to his faults. It was a creative learning experience that nearly ruined the guy's career. And yet, the film came out as a smash success full of iconography--with a lean script, solid style, and wonderful performances, it remains a modern-day classic. It really says something that, even in my generation, the film is instantly recognized by just its music and a few good memes. The cast and crew are champs for bringing this all to life. The film seems to bite deeper each time I see it.
9/10
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