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In Reply to: Re: I disagree. What elevates this film above the average posted by Victor Khomenko on June 5, 2005 at 23:43:37:
If it was only a shock film, then it would not have stood the test of time, with so many different generations of film goers. Was Psycho merely a shock film? What seperates Jaws from most of it's genre is that it takes a fear that everyone has, and makes the fear real. No matter how artfully a director makes a slasher movie, or artful thriller involving an expert killer, I have no fear of being killed in that manner. On the other hand, I cannot enter the ocean on my yearly sojourn without thinking about being attacked by a shark. That is what separates this film from others of it's genre. That what seems such a likely subject was never filmed prior to Jaws bespeaks it's genius. We enter the position of Brody, because we all experience the same fears when we enter the ocean.The shark does not make an appearance in the film for over an hour. Half of the film is spent building the suspense. But note that when the shark makes it's first physical appearance, it is not mutilating anyone. It is simply swimming past the boat. At that point the film shifts gears, and becomes a contest between man and animal.
But there is another character in the film that has not been mentioned, and that is the boat. The special edition D.V.D. makes clear that they intended the boat to be a character in the film as much as the human actors. There is a reason they did not choose a new, fiberglass boat to be the chariot. Rather, they chose a old, wooded, very used, too small boat. The real suspense takes place after the shark is seen in it's full glory, in that for the second hour, the suspense becomes not who will the shark eat, but whether the boat will survive with these three people on board. Which is why the boat is slowly beat up, and slowly sinks. At that point, it is not so much about the men against the shark, but rather, the men against time, because if the boat sinks, they are dead. Their only chance for life comes in killing the shark before the boat in under water.
If you think that once the shock is gone, it is gone, and the film has run it's course, then you have completely missed the suspense that follows. And that is too bad, because once seen the suspense is over, never to be had again. And the very good acting is the conduit for that suspense. There is no doubt in my mind that the casting directors chose relatively unknown actors to play the key roles, feeling that better known actors would pull the audience attention away from the stories arc. Although Robert Shaw was a good, well known character actor, he was never a lead.
For those who are interested, I recommend the special edition D.V.D. A portion of the special features on the D.V.D. is devoted to the mechanical workings of the film. I totally agree that Jaws would not be the film it is had it been made with special effects. The mecanical problems were one reason that the shark does not make an appearance for more than an hour into the film - because they could not get it working, and had to film for budgetary reasons.
Another portion of the special features has Spielberg talking about the camera shots that he wanted, but that were impossible, and the improvising he did to get the same effect. Good stuff.
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Follow Ups
- Re: I disagree. What elevates this film above the average - jamesgarvin 08:33:19 06/06/05 (1)
- Re: I disagree. What elevates this film above the average - patrickU 08:50:22 06/06/05 (1)
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