Happy 4th of July!
I don’t think that there is any better way to mark the holiday here on the blog then to dig into my favorite movie of all time. A 4th of July staple and cinematic masterpiece, Jaws.
There are a lot of ways to approach talking about this movie. There is its place in what was the beginning of the end of the “New Hollywood” of the 1970s. Then of course the infamous production that went 104 days over the scheduled 55 day shoot that left Spielberg reeling and the success of the movie in doubt. Plus the tremendous casting, the Hitchcock inspiration, the political undertones and a ton more. All of these things have been written about length and better than I ever could but there was no way were weren’t going to take this opportunity.
The separator from the American movies that we love and the truly great ones is that they can be elusive and our perception of them change. In 1975 Spielberg set out to make a crowd pleasing popcorn movie about men trying to fight off a giant shark. The script was inspired by a novel that lived a top the best sellers list. Chief Brody, a fish out of water in his own right having moved to the small town of Amity from New York City, must fight off not only a shark but also local politics and the social class differences of the men who will help him. It’s a horror classic, a movie about class, and a reminder to be weary of political figures. But it’s the construction of the narrative of the movie that I really responded to in my most recent watch.
The thing about Jaws is that you are watching two different movies. When the movie starts we have a young woman killed by the shark in the cold open leading to the introduction of Chief Brody. Soon after we met him the woman’s body washes up and we are on our way. Spielberg sets up the movie like you would any other cop led detective movie. The first half of the movie really follows that template. We have the body wash up, the reaction from a nervous town and cop who is working with people around him to catch the killer. Hooper joins the story as the field expert the cop needs to help close the gap on the killer. While Quint is the loose cannon reluctantly hired on to do the work the others won’t. There is a long history going back to the Noir of the 1940s of movies set up like this.
For me the movie splits after the attack on the 4th of July. When that happens Mayor Vaughn is forced to act on the situation that he was desperately trying to avoid to save the town money. Now with his reputation and career on the line he allows our three heroes to make the trip out to find the shark. At this point it changes from a movie about a cop trying to catch a killer and turns into a full blown Spielberg adventure movie. Listen closely to the music cues in the 2nd half and how they differ from the first. This part of the movie also includes the “characters on a journey” staple of two men – Hooper and Quint – from different social classes and belief systems being forced to share the same space. At first they clash but as is in often the case in these stories over time they learn to respect one another and do have admiration for their shared experiences by the end.
I really admire the idea of splitting up the vibe. It’s something that can really make or break a movie and you need strong performances from your actors to make it work. This one of the key things brought up when talking about the troubled production of the movie. They didn’t have much shark footage to show and decision to make the creature hidden until essentially the flip in the movie was incredible.
Within those two movies that makeup Jaws there is a thematic thread that is hard not to pull at when you watch the movie today. Mayor Vaughn is, in my humble opinion, the villain of the movie. The shark is just being a shark but the way the Mayor is attempting to leverage situations and in his own mind help the people of the town while actually just getting more of them killed hits different while living through a 2nd Trump term. The people of Amity are told the beaches are safe when they are not. The Mayor tells the people who elected him that they are safe while never going in the water himself. It’s really subtle but I think there is something to the idea of a political figure putting people at risk or straight up lying to them but never taking any damage when people get hurt.
The last thing I wanted to ramble about was the performances of the three leads that makeup the back half of the movie. Roy Scheider as Brody, Robert Shaw as Quint, and Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper are awesome in this. I really like that in the midst of them hunting for the shark Spielberg slows the pace down and gives these great actors a moment to do some of their best work. I’ve never met someone who’s not responded to the moment where Quint and Hooper sit and share their scars together. It’s the first time the two characters really loosen up in the movie and we get to see another side of their personalities. A fun moment when take into account Brody sitting off to the side with an apparent lack of scars. Then of course that leads us into the Quint monologue about his experience on the USS Indianapolis. It’s the moment that unlocks the movie because from that point on you understand why everyone is there and what their relationship to the beast is. For Quint it’s personal, for Hooper study, and Brody to protect the people of the town.
The wish kid and technology Hooper brings vs. Quint has another layer when you watch his death scene closely. Now, he may have perished anyways BUT I never caught that Quint has a solid grip, but when the boat is rocked it is Hoopers air tank – the same one that will kill the shark – that falls onto his hand and forces him to slide. Brody can’t hold onto him and he slides down further. I’m sure there wasn’t a ton of thought behind it but Hoopers equipment being part of the reason Quint was eaten was something I hadn’t picked up before.
I was able to see it projected yesterday and it was genuinely one of the best movie going experiences of the year for me. The movie holds up on a 4k UHD but nothing beats seeing it in a theater.
Jaws is a reminder of the potential of American movies when artists are trusted to make the movie they want to. This is the peak of artistic expression colliding with blockbuster popcorn entertainment.
As American as baseball and apple pie.
The Ambassador Almanac 