Jaws (1975)

Old movies bring memories. When I saw Jaws yesterday, I was reminded of a neighbour kid back in the plantation we used to live. We stayed in staff quarters, a semi-detached variation. So, you practically know what is happening in the living room of your neigbour. Nothing much, except the kid, age four or five then, was watching the video of Jaws practically everyday. Everyday.

Now, I imagine a few things might have happened to him, now that he is probably in late teens:

1 - He is having recurring nightmare about sharks

2 - He has phobia for fish, stopped eating the species.

3 - If he like movies, he had developed immunity for horrors or shockers. Probably indulging himself in watching east-European art films.

Whatever it is, I wish him well. But imagine the effect it had in him which drove him to watch it everyday. No wonder back in 1975 the film was a success. It scared the hell out of the audiences then. OR that was what I had thought. I told myself, before watching it again yesterday, that that was 1975. I have seen worst horror films. But something happened to me. I used to be a man who simply likes movie, but have grown into a kid who believes and lives the moments or scenes he is watching. Did Jaws scare me yesterday? You bet it did.

Jaws is usually credited (or blamed?) for the onslaught of summer blockbusters. Art film makers complained that studios are only interested in movies that guarantee big bucks. This is further proven by the success of Star Wars. Ironic, isn't it. One underwater horror and another space adventure. Stuff on earth doesn't sell much, eh? Well, George Lucas argued that it is films like Star Wars which put food on the table and afforded Studios to finance smaller films. Hey, he got a point there.

Whatever it is, Jaws became the prototype for many horror films to come, and I can name Alien as one excellent candidate. Why? Because it stuck to the 'less is more' policy implemented by Spielberg in Jaws. I read Roger Eberts review and I love this paragraph and had to feature it for you:

In keeping the Great White off-screen, Spielberg was employing a strategy used by Alfred Hitchcock throughout his career. "A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is surprise," said Hitchcock. "The bomb is under the table but it does not explode: That is suspense." Spielberg leaves the shark under the table for most of the movie. And many of its manifestations in the later part of the film are at second hand: We don't see the shark but the results of his actions. The payoff is one of the most effective thrillers ever made.

How about that? The same technique was used by Ridley Scott for Alien, perhaps excessively since you see very little of the alien in full even at the end. All for the great effect. Now, there are few stories as to why Spielberg wanted very little of the shark to be seen. First he already had that in mind (maybe influence by Hitchcock) that he wanted guarantee that he is allowed to shoot the shark only after an hour of the film. Fine. He is already a genius film-maker before this movie came out (he was praised for Duel and Sugarland Express). There was another story which I read in my oft-quoted 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls" book.

It was Bruce, the nickname of the mechanical shark (named after Spielberg's lawyer, how about that?) who caused it all. I must admit Bruce must be the most famous (or infamous) of all mechanical sharks in the history of ...mechanical sharks. Anyway, it (they actually, three of them) was so faulty, and made a fool of itself in front of the director's pal, like George Lucas and Brian De Palma (Palma laughed his ass off), that they had to delay 'its' scene. In fact, at one point Spielberg wanted to show it off and asked Lucas to put his head inside the shark's mouth. Lucas did. Spielberg worked on the mechanics and closed it. And he couldn't open it. Luckily, other technicians managed to get Lucas' head out, or we would have been spared of 'Howard the Duck' and 'The Phantom Menace." Wait, Phantom Menace was not that bad.

So, while technicians worked on the mechanical 'Bruce', Spielberg worked on other shots. In fact, the time was also used for the rehearsal between actors and it proved to be fruitful and it is so evident in the film that the rapport between the three lead characters (played by Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss). In fact, while I certainly remember the scary scenes, I prefer the 'male bonding' scenes, which are largely improvised. Shaw's monologue about the death of the crew of U.S.S Indianapolis is especially disturbing and very very interesting.

I never thought that viewing the film again would be fun. The scary scenes are still scary. The knowledge that the shark is mechanical never bothered me, it still looked real. Spielberg once admitted that the score, by John Williams, was responsible for half of the movies success. Dare I say he is wrong? Williams has been responsible for many of recognisable theme and who can forget the Jaws theme. More than anything, it had characters that you care about. I may be wrong (dang, I'm always saying this), but Jaws is easily Spielberg's best film.

Note: Go to this site, if you are interested in the making of this movie. It is that good.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/articles/miscarticles/200008Jaws/200008Jaws.shtml


				*Rakesh's movie talk* *Jaws (1975)*



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		Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw and Lorraine Gary.



		Old movies bring memories. When I saw Jaws yesterday, I was reminded of a neighbour kid back in the plantation we used to live. We stayed in staff quarters, a semi-detached variation. So, you practically know what is happening in the living room of your neigbour. Nothing much, except the kid, age four or five then, was watching the video of Jaws practically everyday. Everyday. Now, I imagine a few things might have happened to him, now that he is probably in late teens: 1 - He is having recurring nightmare about sharks 2 - He has phobia for fish, stopped eating the species. 3 - If he like movies, he had developed immunity for horrors or shockers. Probably indulging himself in watching east-European art films. Whatever it is, I wish him well. But imagine the effect it had in him which drove him to watch it everyday. No wonder back in 1975 the film was a success. It scared the hell out of the audiences then. OR that was what I had thought. I told myself, before watching it again yesterday, that that was 1975. I have seen worst horror films. But something happened to me. I used to be a man who simply likes movie, but have grown into a kid who believes and lives the moments or scenes he is watching. Did Jaws scare me yesterday? You bet it did. Jaws is usually credited (or blamed?) for the onslaught of summer blockbusters. Art film makers complained that studios are only interested in movies that guarantee big bucks. This is further proven by the success of Star Wars. Ironic, isn't it. One underwater horror and another space adventure. Stuff on earth doesn't sell much, eh? Well, George Lucas argued that it is films like Star Wars which put food on the table and afforded Studios to finance smaller films. Hey, he got a point there. Whatever it is, Jaws became the prototype for many horror films to come, and I can name Alien as one excellent candidate. Why? Because it stuck to the 'less is more' policy implemented by Spielberg in Jaws. I read Roger Eberts review and I love this paragraph and had to feature it for you: In keeping the Great White off-screen, Spielberg was employing a strategy used by Alfred Hitchcock throughout his career. "A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is surprise," said Hitchcock. "The bomb is under the table but it does not explode: That is suspense." Spielberg leaves the shark under the table for most of the movie. And many of its manifestations in the later part of the film are at second hand: We don't see the shark but the results of his actions. The payoff is one of the most effective thrillers ever made. How about that? The same technique was used by Ridley Scott for Alien, perhaps excessively since you see very little of the alien in full even at the end. All for the great effect. Now, there are few stories as to why Spielberg wanted very little of the shark to be seen. First he already had that in mind (maybe influence by Hitchcock) that he wanted guarantee that he is allowed to shoot the shark only after an hour of the film. Fine. He is already a genius film-maker before this movie came out (he was praised for Duel and Sugarland Express). There was another story which I read in my oft-quoted 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls" book. It was Bruce, the nickname of the mechanical shark (named after Spielberg's lawyer, how about that?) who caused it all. I must admit Bruce must be the most famous (or infamous) of all mechanical sharks in the history of ...mechanical sharks. Anyway, it (they actually, three of them) was so faulty, and made a fool of itself in front of the director's pal, like George Lucas and Brian De Palma (Palma laughed his ass off), that they had to delay 'its' scene. In fact, at one point Spielberg wanted to show it off and asked Lucas to put his head inside the shark's mouth. Lucas did. Spielberg worked on the mechanics and closed it. And he couldn't open it. Luckily, other technicians managed to get Lucas' head out, or we would have been spared of 'Howard the Duck' and 'The Phantom Menace." Wait, Phantom Menace was not that bad. So, while technicians worked on the mechanical 'Bruce', Spielberg worked on other shots. In fact, the time was also used for the rehearsal between actors and it proved to be fruitful and it is so evident in the film that the rapport between the three lead characters (played by Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss). In fact, while I certainly remember the scary scenes, I prefer the 'male bonding' scenes, which are largely improvised. Shaw's monologue about the death of the crew of U.S.S Indianapolis is especially disturbing and very very interesting. I never thought that viewing the film again would be fun. The scary scenes are still scary. The knowledge that the shark is mechanical never bothered me, it still looked real. Spielberg once admitted that the score, by John Williams, was responsible for half of the movies success. Dare I say he is wrong? Williams has been responsible for many of recognisable theme and who can forget the Jaws theme. More than anything, it had characters that you care about. I may be wrong (dang, I'm always saying this), but Jaws is easily Spielberg's best film. Note: Go to this site, if you are interested in the making of this movie. It is that good. http://www.homecinemachoice.com/articles/miscarticles/200008Jaws/200008Jaws.shtml