I Watch Films: Jaws
Jaws
A skinny dipping woman is killed by a shark on Amity Island. Newcomer chief of police Brody (Roy Scheider) tries to close the beaches but the mayor stops him, putting pressure on the coroner to change cause of death to a propeller accident. It’s a tourist island the the 4th of July is coming up, the biggest moneyspinner of the year.
Unfortunately a small boy is killed by a shark at the beach. His mother puts a bounty on the shark, leading to a frenzy of shark hunting; Quint (Robert Shaw) the local grizzled shark hunter offers to do the job for $10,000. Some fishermen catch a big tiger shark but oceanographer Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) measures the shark and thinks it isn’t big enough, then they cut it open and there’s no human remains in it.
The mayor won’t listen, so obviously the shark attacks on the 4h of July, including threatening Brody’s children. Now they find the money; Quint, Brody and Hooper head out to sea to hunt for the shark for the long, waterborne final sequence.
Having recently watched the sequels I could see how this kept hitting the marks they were aiming for, and not always reaching. Thanks to technical problems with the fake shark it’s filmed to avoid having to show it, which works really well, and makes the final appearance much more effective. Shark technology has moved on, not every shot of it is especially convincing. What sells it is the three solid actors who’ve been hanging out on the boat, swapping stories and comparing scars, all men who’ve seen some things. And they’re scared of this thing that keeps running rings around them.
Watch This: Seminal shark thriller that still stands up to
its reputation
Don’t Watch This: Absolute slur on sharks
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