Jaws (1975) - film review

When the mutilated body of a young woman is washed up on the shore of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody fears that a killer shark may be stalking the coastline.  His attempt to close off the beaches is thwarted by the town’s mayor, who is eager to avoid adverse publicity that may deter tourists from coming to the area.  When the shark strikes again, killing a young boy, the authorities have no choice but to close the beaches.   The capture of a tiger shark by local fishermen appears to have resolved the crisis, but marine biologist Matt Hooper is adamant that this is not the shark they are after.  The mayor ignores Hooper and reopens the beaches, just in time to profit from the influx of Fourth of July holiday makers.  Inevitably, the shark strikes again and Brody comes close to losing his own son.  The mayor finally agrees to hire professional shark hunter Quint to track down and kill the troublesome shark.  Brody and Hooper persuade Quint to take them with him, but soon wish they had stayed at home...

The film that promoted Steven Spielberg from virtual obscurity to the position of one of the world’s leading filmmakers was also to become the highest grossing film of all time (until Star Wars came along a few years later).  When Jaws hit cinema screens in 1975, it ushered in a cinematic revolution which, for better or for worse, was to radically alter the way in which films were made and distributed from the late 1970s.  It marked the birth of the high concept blockbuster movie, and all the hype and furore that goes with it.  Incidentally, it is also one of Spielberg’s most highly regarded films, surpassed only by his subsequent sci-fi masterpiece Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

The production of Jaws was far from plain sailing and came close to being scuppered by the mechanical shark models which refused to function as specified.  This explains why we only see brief glimpses of the shark in the film, something that actually works to the film’s advantage.  By only giving us fleeting glimpses of the shark, the film magnifies the threat posed by the underwater menace, which appears to be able to chew its way through anything, even a massively contrived plot.

Through some slick editing and ambitious photography, Spielberg and his team create a well-paced adventure thriller which is extraordinarily compelling. Like the psychopathic shark it portrays, the film holds the spectator in its vice-like grip and doesn’t let go for a second, particularly when we get into the nail-biting showdown.  With its frequent depictions of extreme bodily mutilation, Jaws deserves to be considered one of the earliest slasher horror films, and it certainly merits a more severe classification than the PG rating that was awarded to it by the censors.  The only other film of this era that flaunts a comparable spectacle of sustained visceral terror is The Exorcist (1973), and even that doesn’t offer anything as horrific as the sight of a man being ripped to pieces by the razor sharp molars of a marine monstrosity.

Made on a fairly modest budget of around seven million dollars, Jaws grossed $470 million, thanks to a smart publicity campaign orchestrated by its distributor, who broke with convention and went for a nationwide release date (June 20th 1975), rather than the more usual staggered release.  The film’s phenomenal success ensured the making of a sequel, although Spielberg had moved on to other projects and would not be available to direct Jaws 2, released in 1978.  Two more sequels followed: Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987). 

None of the three sequels proved to be anywhere near as popular as the original Jaws film and are not as well regarded, mainly because they lack Spielberg’s inspired touch.  Despite its implausible plot, some wobbly characterisation and a degree of unsubtle political posturing, Jaws still manages to impress with its sheer energy, dramatic intensity and hypnotic power.   It’s probably not a good idea to show it to the kids before you go on holiday.  No film in history has created as many hydrophobes as this one.

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