Jaws the film is a classic; it is one of the most famous and influential films in western cinematic history. It was released in 1975 by Universal Pictures and gathered worldwide fame and influence, both in positive and negative lights. While some may consider it outdated in mechanics, stylistic choices, and appearance, Jaws is still a widely recognized and beloved film.
The film’s production began when producers at Universal Pictures, Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, acquired the film rights to adapt the novel “Jaws” in 1973, and Steven Spielberg became the director. He tried to cast relatively unknown film actors as he thought that hiring famous stars would make it harder for the audience to connect with them. He pointed out that less known actors would better fit the impression of average people living through the shark terror. Eventually, the cast was set with Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, and Richard Dreyfuss playing Quint, Brody, and Hooper, respectively. The original book’s author, Peter Benchley, even had a role in the film as the interviewer. Universal Pictures would later both produce and distribute the film.
Spielberg chose the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, as the filming location because it had a lower-middle-class appearance. It would make a man-eating shark a reasonable danger to the island’s economy, because a tourist town would not be able to afford damage to its reputation. The film faced several challenges: there were not actors for the role of Quint and Hooper for a long time, it moved past its planned budget, and it used mechanical sharks in the water that often malfunctioned. Spielberg had to rely on making some scenes imply the shark’s presence rather than demonstrate it.
Jaws propelled Steven Spielberg’s career, was a box phenomenon and a worldwide success. With a budget of 9 million dollars, its box office grossed over 472 million dollars worldwide. After its release, many filmmakers tried to copy Jaws‘ style in pursuit of its success. Another famous horror film, “the Alien” by Ridley Scott, was initially described as “Jaws in space.” It affected the thriller genre for decades, even creating a new popular film type: man-eating shark films. Jaws spawned many copycats that try to capture the same triumph, such as the “Sharknado” series (2013-2018), “the Meg” (2018), and others. While none of them are as successful as the original Jaws, it demonstrates how the film made in 1975 still impacts cinema over 40 years later.
Yet not all of its impact was positive: many people developed a newfound fear of the ocean and even water after watching the film. Some people, mostly children, had panic attacks during or after watching the film. One of the most massive impacts Jaws had thought was not on the human world but the animal kingdom. Jaws further established sharks as man-eating monsters in the eyes of viewers. The film does not portray sharks as a vital part of an ecosystem but as unstoppable killers with no other goal than to eat humans. The myth was so strong that the shark population took a brutal hit, as impressionable people started hunting these animals in great numbers.
Peter Benchley reconsidered his views on the sharks after the film’s impact on their population later in life (Robinson 71). Pepin-Neff also points out that “rogue sharks that get a taste for human flesh is a film myth and does not exist” (180). This myth had primarily been dispelled in recent years, but many shark species population continue their decline.
The scene of the second shark attack is incredibly intense, but the plot starts slowly at first. It focuses first on the police chief watching the swimmers. Several people talk to him during the scene, but nothing can distract him from the sea. Eventually, kids go into the water, and a young man calls for his dog: its collar is floating on water. The shark then attacks a boy and drags him underwater. As panic arises on the beach, everyone runs to get kids out of the water. The scene ends with a mother walking along the coast and calling for her son. Bloodied piece of clothes washes ashore.
Mise-en-scène is set on a beach with the protagonist, Martin Brody, surrounded by secondary characters. As the scene is recorded on a real beach, the lighting is natural, clear, and low-key. While editing in the scene is simple, it uses this simplicity for its benefit: at one point it switches to the shark’s first point of view. There is an intense non-diegetic music playing in the background as all other sounds are gone from shark’s point of view, but when only people are on the screen, only natural diegetic sounds can be heard.
The dramatic difference between people’s view and a shark’s view makes it even more intense, as a viewer watches people on the screen be dragged underwater. The viewer knows what is happening, but it is still a mystery to the characters; thus, the tension builds even higher (Melo 17). The scene lasts slightly above three minutes, but it sets up the drama and tension vividly.
Jaws is considered to be a cinematographic masterpiece by many critics and viewers alike. There are several reasons for that: the creation of a new subgenre, impact on culture, success in the box office, writing, and cinematography. Universal Pictures produced the film in 1970s, and it could not rely on CGI or other modern technologies, so the writers had to improvise to build a suspenseful story. While some may debate its impact on wildlife, it is clear that Jaws stays in film makers’ and film watchers’ minds to this day.
Works Cited
Melo, Leandro Waltrick de. The Oncoming Horror in “Jaws”: A Multimodal Translation Analysis Comparing Novel and Film. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 2019.
Pepin-Neff, Christopher. Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policymaking. Springer, 2019.
Robinson, David. “Monster or Great Fish? Peter Benchley’s Jaws as Ecocritical Text.” Scrutiny2, vol. 21, no. 3, 2016, pp. 57-72.