The Best Film Ever Made

Jaws(1975)

I normally watch Jaws once a year, normally in May to start off my Summer- a form of sadomasicistic pleasure as I grew up in a seaside town. I’ve seen it twice this Summer, a month apart- once on the 4th July- “you’ve got a panic on your hands on the 4th July,” and am tempted to see it again, as you never know when it will be around again. It is that good, one of those rare films that you can literally watch again and again, back to back, just to relish every aspect. Not many films, not even Spielberg films can claim that- maybe Raiders or perhaps E.T. are the only other two I can think of, off the top of my head. So much has been written about Jaws( indeed, see my review on The Shark is Still Working(2006), that it is probably wise to simply state the changes I have personally noticed in watching the film. Well firstly, without a doubt, it still works. It hooked the half full audience- like most old films, I think people who’ve seen it on TV, forget how good it is on the big screen, and mix it up with the substandard sequels. Also, while the first half is peppered with great moments- Chrissie’s death, the ferry conversation, Alex Kintner’s death, Quint’s speech among many others, the second half, from the Orca leaving the dockyard, doesn’t let the audience go for a second. It was also the first time on seeing it, that I realized that Jaws is officially looking dated to me, the fashions and cars look old, the colour is too saturated, but it doesn’t matter. It may have slipped from contemporary to period piece in my eyes, but just like Psycho(1960) or North by Northwest(1959), once it’s playing, you get dragged back into the familiar story. An evergreen classic. If only Spielberg still killed dogs and children in his films with such glee. 10/10