Two great stories in one film

Rating: 9/10 (26 April 2020)

The film "Jaws" actually consists of two story's.
The second story is the story of the hunt. This story builds on "Moby Dick" (1956, John Huston). In effect the character of Quint in Jaws resembles to a great extent that of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. The attraction of the second story is the interaction between the totally different old sailor Quint (Robert Shaw), Brody (Roy Scheider) as the local sheriff who is afraid of water and the scientific Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss). Spielberg takes his time to introduce these characters to us. The best scene in the second story is the one in which the three of them sit slightly drunk in the cabin of the boat, bragging about their scars and the heroic stories behind them. This scene is also a well timed interlude between all the actions scenes in the second story.
The first story is the story of Amity Island, and how the local tourist industry does not want to face the facts about the shark. For the mayor of the city the interests of the local economy far outweight the risks for the tourists. After the first casualty he succeeds in convincing the sheriff to not shutt down the beach and only after the second casualty action is taken. The best scene of this story is between the first and the second casualty. The sheriff knows the danger, the beach guests do not. The sheriff tries to be as alert as possible, the beach guests are whining about details.
In this scene at the beach Spielberg shows his mastery as a storyteller. He uses striking swimwear to draw our attention to specifc beach guests. He uses a cameratechnique of zooming out / tracking forward when the inevitable accident finally strikes. I only know this cameratechnique from "Vertigo" (1958, Alfred Hitchcock), in this film to illustrate the fear of height of Scottie.
"Jaws" was the breakthrough-film of Spielberg. It was also the breakthrough of the summer blockbuster (summer was up till then considered a lukewarm filming season). During the production stage of Jaws the mechanical shark was not functioning well. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Spielberg decided in a lot of scenes not to show the shark directly but either indirectly or not at all. That suggestion is often more effective than images is known since "Cat people" (1942, Jacques Tourneur), "Jaws" reconfirmes this "film law" ones again.
In the end "Jaws" is in my opinion the film of Sheriff Brody. In story 1 he succumbs under the pressure and does not take the necessary actions. For this he is reproached by the mother of the second casualty. In story 2 he overcomes his fear for water and is ultimately the one who eliminates the shark.