I’m still blown away that Spielberg was only 26 when he made that film.
Really interesting breakdown.
Jaws is one of the most perfect movies of the genre. And a great movie overall, of course. The thing that makes it so awesome aside from the direction as noted in this video, is that like most great movies, the “theme” is not the movie. It’s not about a shark, it’s about human emotion. Pride, fear, etc… The shark and the hunt is secondary. The three men on the Orca all are so different, but brought there for compelling reasons.
Another favorite example is Amadeus.- it’s not about Mozart and Salieri, it’s about struggling with faith and envy.
i miss the early spielberg.
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A film editor discusses how films work and don’t work with an obviously deep love of the art and craft.
I love Jaws (the film).
Weirdly, I thought the book was awful.
Last movie that I saw he directed was Catch Me if You Can. I liked that a lot. Haven’t been that interested in the ones that came after that, but I’d watch Lincoln.
Prior to that, I saw/liked about half his other films. I couldn’t choose between Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark as my favorite - so a tie. Then Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Which features the great Bob Balaban!
oh, you know, i forgot about Lincoln. i was spellbound – i loved that movie. it’s not like spielberg was in his early years, but that was a great movie. i didn’t see CMIYC, but i’ve heard it’s really good, too. i guess i miss the days he took more chances overall.
Actually that isn’t that weird. Benchley’s book wasn’t that good. Another case where the movie greatly excels beyond the book is Puzo’s “The Godfather”. The oft-repeated saying that books are better than the movie adaptions only really holds if the book deals with a lot of internal monologue that can’t really be filmed or if the prose itself is of special merit, If the book is mostly about things happening, this can be a lot more powerful in a visual medium.
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