Film Log- 2nd Semester- JAWS

Movie: Jaws
1975, Color, 124 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Schneider

Summary: Martin Brody is a police chief on Amity Island on the East Coast of America. On a random summer morning, he is called to the beach to investigate a "mangled" body of a tourist washed upon the shore. Police investigators and medical examiners suspect the cause of her death to be a shark attack. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Amity Island tries covering up the death with another reason in order to keep the 4th of July festivities unaffected. The police chief, marine scientist and fisherman set out to find the cause of the tragic deaths in their area.

Q: How does the musical score play a role in this film?
A: The theme song of Jaws has carried over into so much of today's media as a "villain" song. The two notes are haunting, mysterious, and perfectly adds the deadly aspect of what lurks in Amity's waters. As soon as the theme song begins to play, the viewer knows danger is coming up in the story. It is simple, sharp, and adds character to the shark itself. Though the orchestra chimes in later in the song, the two notes are the most prominent and well known.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3mKAKPYh6k

Q:How does this film relate to symbolic social issues facing America then, and now?
A: Jaws can be viewed as a controversial film aimed at society. The killing of the first victim-- a blonde woman, is an example of sexual dominance of man. For example, a critic wrote:"The shark’s-eye camera view watches from below as the woman swims acrobatically above. Then it rises up under her toward her crotch as she scissorkicks vertically in the water. The camera quickly switches to the surface of the water. Here the close up of the woman’s agonized face as the unseen shark tears her body under the water is a frightening imitation of orgasm, the cliché of the equivalence of pleasure and pain used almost from the first portrayal of female orgasm in film." and the Second killing of the child stresses the importance of " civic responsibility and male protectiveness." And Lastly, the film can be an attack on America's economy-- in that it kills its victims and praises the value of money over life (mayor and his concern with the 4th of July).