An archaic fear becomes a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2015)

This movie is widely known to many people all over the world. Even though they haven't actually seen the film or seen it completely. Why is that? It is because Jaws has left an image on the cultural collective mind. It is an image of the fear of the unknown that lingers in the dark (waters) and waits to come up and swallow up man. An archaic image of fear that is buried deep inside of mankind and was portrayed by cultures at all times: giant serpents living in lakes, the spirits of ancestors in the woods with the Native Americans, demons, ghosts etc. The very first victim scene where Chrissie is attacked from under the water shows this archaic fear clearly and has become an icon for the movie itself, similar movies, commercial spots, t-shirts, etc.
Most people in the Western civilization cannot jump into the ocean anymore without having at least a glimpse of JAWS in mind. The archaic fear has got a new clear image of a Great White Shark. If someone makes these sounds "dun-dun-dun-dun" almost everybody has immediately the same pictures in mind of a menacing shark approaching. This film is a masterpiece in making, acting and scoring.
Young Spielberg may have had more luck and balls than real knowledge and life long experience in making this movie. CEOs at Universal got very angry about him but still had confidence in him. Of course he didn't invent this genre and this didn't came out of nothing. Predecessors like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, Moby Dick, 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea have prepared this field. And Spielberg and John Williams borrowed a lot from them, especially Creature from the Black Lagoon, where we find the same musical theme "dun-dun" twenty years before Jaws. But in the end it is what it is and the audience decides whether they like a movie or not - for Jaws generations have considered it a masterpiece and inspiration for following directors.
So why do so many new movies about sharks suck? In my opinion they do because they concentrate on the shark, not on the story or archaic fear. That's what Spielberg did, concentrate on the story and fear, having all the trouble with the mechanic shark he had no other choice either. Maybe there is an unwritten law shining through: great difficulties on set make great movies.