The year is 1975 and the first half of the decade had already proven to reinvent what it meant to create films for the silver screen, with films like A Clockwork Orange (1971), Enter The Dragon (1973), Mean Streets (1973) and The Exorcist (1973) paving the way with ambitious, original screenplays that completely hooked audiences. The decade, often dubbed as “Hollywood’s second Golden Age”, continued on its strides with arguably one of the most monumental and culture shifting films the industry had seen to date—-Jaws (1975) directed by one of the infamous “movie brats” pioneering this new wave of cinema, Steven Spielberg. 

It is here that we are transported to the fictional Amity Island, a beautiful coastal town alive with tourists in the summer months, where the most crime you will see is kids practicing their karate moves on white picket fences. Preparing for their annual 4th of July celebrations, the festivities are grinded to a halt when multiple swimmers are brutally attacked in the ocean by what island police chief Brody (Roy Scheider), out of town marine oceanologist Hopper (Richard Dreyfuss), and local eccentric fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) believe to be a killer shark. 

To begin, we are met with Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) harmlessly wanting to take a night swim, escaping from a bonfire party on the beach. As she swims, there are stunning non-centered horizon shots (thank you, The Fabelmans (2022) for always making me aware of it in a Spielberg feature) of the ocean water sparkling in the moonlight that are simply transfixing to look at. In the same vein, we are taken underwater to see Chrissie swimming just below the surface from the perspective of something lurking deeper in the water. 

The imagery captured by director of photography Bill Butler is so meticulously thought out and mesmerizing to watch. Being shot on location at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, primarily at sea, was a kind of cinematography not seen to this scale before. Ultimately, it pushed the technological bounds of what could be possible to film for generations to come. 

Yet the artistry in this one iconic opening does not end here. Spielberg blocks scenes in a way that is so dynamic without even moving the camera, placing foreground emphasis on aspects that are happening in the background of each scene. When Brody answers the phone in his home to the report of Chrissie’s “disappearance,” he is blocked in the right-most vertical third of the shot while his wife Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and son Michael (Chris Rebello) pottering about in the kitchen behind him not in focus for in the remaining two thirds of the shot. Details such as these are what make films like Jaws rewatchable half a century later.

Even the writers Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley (author of the original Jaws novel) went to great efforts to craft a perfectly paced narrative, balancing the suspense-filled shark moments with the heartfelt beats amongst the characters. A clear example of this is after the first attack, where we pan across the coast to see each of the swimmers enjoying their time in the water, unbeknownst to what occurred just yesterday. As a viewer, we witness the sequence (as Chief Brody does) with the paranoia that one of them could be the latest casualty of the shark. The pan being excruciatingly slow is an intentional decision as it allows the audience to develop a connection small enough to these civilians to feel devastated at the idea that one of them would be attacked.

While Jaws is primarily a shark tale littered with heart-in-throat tension, the human characters have great depth to them. An often overlooked yet highly compelling plotline is the island bureaucracy spearheaded by the Mayor of Amity Island, Vaughn (Murray Hamilton). The constant push-pull between Brody and Vaughn about how to react is where the screenplay reaches its highest point. It levels the story to a reality where these two men with positions of power have the safety of an entire town, along with the tourists visiting, in the palm of their hand. Unfortunately, this is an ageless societal predicament that is incredibly relevant today, making Gottlieb and Benchley’s powerful writing transcend time rather than age poorly.

Another relationship that draws intrigue is centered around Brody and his son Michael, weighted heavily in heart-wrenching emotion, yet executed in the most subtle way. In particular, there is a moment where they are both sitting at the dinner table, and Michael is copying his father’s mannerisms. 

On the surface, it is an innocent scene that demonstrates their connection and closeness to one another. Diving deeper, there is a melancholic undertone revolving around Brody’s fear that his son will grow up exactly like him, fearing the ocean. This fear then becomes a motivator for him to face his own demons to become a better example for his son, proving, once again, that Gottlieb and Benchley wrote a layered narrative that is much more than a story about a killer shark.

That being said, let’s talk about the shark. Conceptualised and built by production designer Joe Alves, three practical sharks, nicknamed Bruce,  were used for the entirety of the filming process. It was repeatedly submerged in water, enduring knocks and rips and having to be regularly touched up in between takes by special mechanical effects artist Roy Arbogast. There is absolutely no denying that this was a technical feat, allowing future filmmakers to dream big with the magic they can create on screen. However, the complexities of these mechanical sharks extended shooting from 55 to 159 days. 

In the same year, George Lucas, a friend of Spielberg’s, founded the company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) – a visual effects company that, in the 1980s, pioneered the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the film industry. At a time when the most groundbreaking practical effects used in Jaws hoped to inspire future filmmakers to do the same, ILM was gradually popularising CGI, an easier way to construct the magic, which has now unequivocally infected cinema today.

Looking back on Jaws, what has happened to the big blockbuster films in the 21st century? The tender care and craftsmanship that had gone into making blockbusters seems to be fading, with studios caring more about IP longevity rather than the look, feel, and overarching quality of what is being produced. 

All in all, the film is a phenomenal horror blockbuster bursting at the seams with layered character work and amazing practical effects. Quite frankly, there was nothing that compared to the sheer magnitude of influence the film brought on. I hope the future of cinema looks back to the creativity and love poured into making movies rather than how studios churn out cash-grab blockbusters today. If they choose to look back, they should look at Jaws.

Retrospective Courtesy of Nandita Joshi

Feature Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures via Academy Museum of Motion Pictures