GREAT SELECTION: Jaws (1975)

Ah, yes...we return to a classic as to which it is titled as the first summer blockbuster that will get you to be afraid of the water for about a year...Jaws. This Steven Spielberg directed classic morphs you into a realistic depiction of residential islanders who work, talk and presumably hang out surrounding all that sand and water. However, this summer movie executed a range of blockbusters for decades to come for different audiences to anticipated different tonal films that propel people to be blown away by other directors' work of special effects extravaganza. But, this movie was a simplistic film that generated three fascinating characters to follow along to catch a great white shark that devoured a few innocent people.

How Spielberg structured this movie is a classic Hitchcockian way in which the mystery clouds our judgement and our thinking as to how big this shark is and what it looks like. What is so effortless is that the shark is introduced about an hour or an hour and 15 minutes in and now this suspenseful horror film has elevated to a suspenseful chase thriller that is surrounded by water and never ceases to bore you because you are in for the ride. No wonder this acclaimed classic has stood the test of time and it makes the classic that any director does not have to establish many special effects to create a great film. But, Jaws is a simply structured and well-told tour de force.

Chief Brody.

During a late-night beach party, a girl is being chased by a boy as they are presumably drunk. She is swimming naked in the ocean when suddenly a creature beneath the surface of the water drags the innocent islander violently as she is drowned and killed. This report is delivered to Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief of Amity Island, as her partial remains are being seen on shore. The medical examiner leads Chief Brody to close down the beaches but Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) overrules him, thinking that it will impact the economy, decreasing attendance.

After another incident on the waters near the shore, Chief Brody and the board including the Mayor have the meeting as a $10,000 reward is issued to the person who can catch the shark that killed a boy. Local professional shark hunter, Quint (Robert Shaw), wants to catch that thing for money and a consulting oceanographer, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) concludes that the first victim's death was from a shark attack. When local fisherman catch a tiger shark, the Mayor and the rest of the fishermen think they caught the shark. But, when Hooper and Brody thoroughly investigates, they think it is a bigger shark. Without much evidence, the Mayor issues for safety precautions and for the beach to be opened on the Fourth of July weekend. During the event, the same shark causes a large group of swimmers to get out in which a boater is killed. Afterwards, a few days later, Brody, Quint and Hooper sail out into the horizon to find the shark.

The three fishermen. 

Researching this movie and watching the movie recently, this movie has some inspiration behind some of Bill Butler's cinematography in which fishermen are having fun and frustration simultaneously in catching the shark. Some scenes are inspired by Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Quint portrays the obsessive Captain Ahab who wants to hunt the beast that is threatening many people but mostly to match his obsession and be known as somebody respected and possibly feared. I mean, his introductory monologue after he drags his fingernails on the chalkboard embodies the essence of his obsession. It is just his speech, not his physical whereabouts and emotion that get us to pay attention to the interesting hunter.

But, also, we pay attention to Brody as he represents an ordinary man that looks like a hero to the islanders but has a fear of decency and also the water. So, we buy him as a character that has some doubt regarding himself and also his children as he warns his kids in one point to get out of the water after he knows that a girl was attacked in the ocean. We root for Brody, especially towards the end, as the man who is afraid of the water has the guts, *SPOILER ALERT* but come on, it has been out for 40 years, kills the shark with the pressurized scuba with a gun which causes an explosion. We cheer with him and Hooper and then accompanied with John Williams' tranquil score near the end, we now know "the movie is over, it is safe to go back."

However, the combination of Steven Spielberg's direction and John Williams' suspenseful two-note score is brilliant. Without one of them, this movie would not have been as successful at all. I mean, even Spielberg and Universal contractually had a problem with its budget and script and it was a hell of a mess when making the film. But, the result is shockingly fantastic. The exact same combination permeates the successful career that both will blessedly have for the rest of their lives that many people will love. (There will be one GREAT SELECTION directed by Spielberg coming up in two weeks.)

Jaws has realistic and quiet thrills, a bit of action and subtle humor that blends into one piece of artistic and poetic filmmaking. And, at times, Spielberg tries to maybe make a visual poem about the love of the ocean regarding hunting and the sea itself. This movie can be known as a horror movie or a monster movie but many people acknowledges it as a genuine Spielberg movie. Directors, nowadays, have the tendency to rip off that filmmaking structure and failed miserably. Another movie that does it perfectly is Ridley Scott's Alien. But, again, don't worry, there's no shark in the swimming pool but revisit this first summer blockbuster that is established as a suspenseful monster-horror-genre classic.