Last stop in the amazing period between 1966 and 1980 that yielded cinema's arguably greatest, but unarguably grittiest work. The period provided 30 films in the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition), and I have loved watching them. It sucks that this is the last stop from that era, but I picked a good one to close out the era.
Film 97
97. "Jaws" (AFI Rank #56)
I was seven years old when this film became a sensation in the summer of 1975. Setting the standard for the summer blockbuster, this film became the highest grossing film of all time, and held the position until a little film named "Star Wars" arrived two years later. Seen by 67 million Americans, this was not just a film, but a cultural event. I was deemed too young, and probably rightly so, to see it, but you bet that I had "Jaws - The Game." Even without seeing it, the film was part of my youth, and it was part of the summer of 1975 for America.Then, when it showed on television...I want to say around 6th grade - 1979/80...I watched it for the first time. I've seen it dozens of times since, and it was most assuredly kept for this late portion of the quest to get through the AFI list because it's one of my favorite films. It's got everything that I love about film, good guys that aren't quite good, bad guys who aren't quite bad, lots of male-oriented themes, great music, wonderful visual composition, tip-top acting, a few happy accidents along the way that made the final product better, and a hell of a lot of great dialogue. To wit: I posted a photo of the credits on Facebook as I started watching this last night. I've received lots and lots of quotes from the film as replies. The film is not only incredibly well done, it's incredibly well loved. Yeah, I get tired of the constant references to "these waters," but the screenplay is tremendous.
And that seems like a good place to start. Having previously directed one feature film, Steven Spielberg was handed the reins to a film based on a popular best seller written by Peter Benchley. 27 years old at the time, Spielberg not only turned in an incredible job as director (more to come), but wrote a significant portion of the script, along with Carl Gottlieb. There are moments that are clunky with the writing (see previous mention of the overuse of the term "these waters"), but the story is remarkably taut, unbelievably quotable, and filled with lots of real world reactions thrust into unreal situations. I'm just going to point out one small line that I think is absolute genius. Early in the film, on the night that the first victim's body is found, Ellen Brody comes in to sit with her husband, and says to him, "Wanna get drunk and fool around?" to which he replies, "Oh, yeah." Now, this may not seem like a big deal. However, that's the way real couples talk to each other, and I love it. I'm damn near 50 and I can't remember dozens and dozens of lovemaking sessions that began with some come hither look followed by a Hollywood-style passionate kiss, and candlelight. I do remember dozens and dozens of times where it was initiated as simply as, "Wanna fool around?" I don't drink, so the drunk part is out. Point is that we didn't get a Hollywood moment. We got a real-life moment, and it's wonderful.
I took a lot of time talking about the era in which this film was released, and I think it's important to remember that. Watch some of the larger scenes and try and pick out the dialogue. There is a great deal of chatter/noise in most scenes involving lots of people, and bits and pieces of dialogue appear out of the drone, but are not necessarily given great weight. I think this is, once again, a function of the era. This isn't the quick patter era of the 30s/40s, but this era threw conversations all over other conversations. I happen to love that. People cut each other off, reactions start before the previous line is finished, often audibly. I think this film, in particular, uses that to great effect to separate Acts I and II, but it's also a tool used a lot in this era, as filmmakers began to push the boundaries and strive towards realism. So, here's a film that happens to be a special effects spectacular with conversational techniques on par with wordy-ass films like "All the President's Men." Beyond dialogue, there is a dirty quality to the entire film that is palpable. Not "racy," but actually...dirty. Chief Brody's truck is not a pristine vehicle. Signs are hand-painted, mostly, and don't feel fake. The dock at the Brody home is in disrepair. The swingset is rusty. Quint's shop is a nightmare...and was entirely built for the film to look that way. The Orca does not appear to be seaworthy. It's old, and really feels that way. A great deal of time and effort was spent to make sure this film looked "used." It succeeds at every turn.
Couple of brief quibbles. 1. The boat on which Hooper arrives on the island does not appear to be the same boat that he and Brody later take out to go find the shark at night. 2. No way the Mayor is that stubborn after the Kintner boy's death. No way.
I've highlighted a couple of small moments that help define greatness to me. Let's look at the big stuff. As I stated, the composition of the photography is almost a character in the film. Tell me you don't feel genuinely sad for Hooper when Quint stands on the pulpit of the Orca staring at him after he delays a kill shot that Quint thought he had. Check out that shot. Check out the shot where the meteor streaks past as Hooper and Brody stand on the Orca. Watch the way the barrels are introduced and how they frame the shots in which they are used. The opening sequence, in which Chrissy Watkins is consumed by the shark is gorgeous. The happy accident of not being able to see the shark because they couldn't film it, because it wouldn't work properly, is perhaps the greatest thing that ever happened to this film. There is so much more tension built by the mystery of what is under the water for the first act than there would have been had we seen the shark swimming among the legs in the Kintner death.
Ah. Now. Let's talk about what I love the most about this film. The fact that it is two distinct acts. On land, we see Chief Brody, henpecked by the powers that be in the town of Amity Island. We have a great deal of noise and confusion, and a lot of really awful crap happening on land. We then take a boat out into the ocean, and the cast is reduced to 3, and all the problems on the mainland disappear, along with all the noise. There is music, some of it triumphant, some of it chilling, but the film quiets tremendously almost all at once. It's 3 guys, some weaponry, a boat, and a 25 foot great white shark. Quint even does the brilliant move of smashing the radio to isolate the hunters from the mainland. We are trapped on that damned little boat, and it ain't a good place to be.
Act II of this film is really where I find my greatest satisfaction. Quint's poetically delivered speech about the results of the sinking on the USS Indianapolis is one of cinema's great monologues. Stuffed with imagery that only the spoken word can convey, Robert Shaw takes us to that desperate situation, and shows us a side of Quint, the scared side, that we need to help flesh out the character. We see begrudging respect given to Hooper by Quint, and we see Hooper, so sublimely played by Richard Dreyfuss, offer the same. In the middle of all of this is Brody, henpecked here as well, the low man on the totem pole, but the guy who is supposed to be in charge. Roy Scheider's performance is stunning, true to life, and just the kind of understatement that is required between those two massive personalities. And the fact that he ad libbed one of cinema's greatest lines doesn't sit too poorly with me, either.
This film could have been so very, very bad. It had all the potential to slip into cheap horror film. The commitment on the part of those making it to keep it from that, and to tell a really terrifying tale in a way that smacked of real-life is what made it so great. The director could have shown the shark more, and showed the effects of shark bites more, but that would have been some sort of fetish thing. No, the horrors of flesh being rendered from its proper place is decidedly understated in this film, and even when overtly shown, does not seem like spectacle as much as..."yup, that's what would happen." Tell me how much less terrifying Chrissy Watkins' death is if we can see the shark. Tell me that there isn't something that happens in your gut when she finally disappears underwater for good, and the screaming stops. I HATE that the Kintner death had to be a child, but how else does that scene work? That we only see a shredded air mattress is all we need know about the horrible death the child experienced. Yes, we have Ben Gardner's head in the boat, and we have the leg of the guy who tried to help Michael in the "pond," but those things don't feel unnecessary, nor gratuitous. It's fine filmmaking, not sparing the viewer of the real details, while not glorifying them either. It's been over 40 years since this film appeared, and it's had 3 sequels made from its origins. It's become a part of popular culture, and is recognized as a horror masterpiece. To me, it will always be more than that. It's a great, great film that happens to have some horrific moments. Overall, though, it's a great big metaphor built around hubris, and man's inability to understand/control nature. The shark could have been a bear, or a lion, or a nuclear plant, or any number of things that man thinks it can control but could wind up relentlessly stalking us/destroying us. In this case, it's a shark, and the lessons learned have very little to do with the 25 foot fish. That, friends, is what makes for great stories, and great, great films. This is one of those.
One bit of trivia that is too delicious: the shark is visible for a total of 4 minutes. That's fun stuff.
I'm glad I saved this for the end. It was great fun to go out on the boat with Brody, Hooper, and Quint and experience the exhilarating highs and deathly lows of their fishing trip. I cannot say enough about how much I love this film.
Ebert loved it, too. His take, from his "Great Movies" series is here.
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