Great storytelling

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2016)

Jaws succeeds in many ways, none more important than pure storytelling brilliance. I believe this is missing in so much of today's cinema. Everything seems rushed in modern films, and when a film does get back to the roots of telling a proper story (this takes time) people complain that it is too slow.
Let's take the way Spielberg sets up the beach scene for example. There was one to two minutes of establishing beach-goer shots. If this film was made today I believe 80-90% of that would be removed to "speed up" the story and we would be left with a single establishing shot of the water/beach then jump right into the scene. Instead we are treated to a montage of real people enjoying their day at the beach. This sets the realism of the scene; it does not feel like a film set with paid extras walking in their choreographed patterns given to them moments before "Action!"
The town feels like a real place with real people dealing with a simple, yet serious, situation and it is done masterfully. I wish films today were still made with this kind of passion and integrity.