Jaws

In early 1975, Francis Ford Coppola followed his Best Picture win for “The Godfather” with a second win for “The Godfather Part II”, and along with an additional nomination for “The Conversation”, completed the first cinematic hat trick of the New Hollywood era.  With anticipation at an unprecedented level for his next film, Coppola would begin the process of production soon after the awards ceremony.  It would be four years and a journey through the jungle to his own heart of darkness before it is released to an eager moviegoing public.

In the ensuing period, several directors would begin to stake their own claim to immortality.  By year end, films as diverse as Monty Python’s hilariously inane “Holy Grail”, Stanley Kubrick’s visually exquisite “Barry Lyndon” and Sidney Lumet’s expertly tense “Dog Day Afternoon” would leave their mark with critics and audiences.  Ultimately, though, two movies would stand above the rest, with one sweeping the top five Oscar categories and the other reaching box office grosses previously considered unattainable.

Having built a reputation as part of his native country’s New Wave movement, Czech-emigrant Milos Foreman was a somewhat surprising choice by producer Michael Douglas to direct the film version of the cult novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.  A pet project and one-time expected starring vehicle for the producer’s father Kirk Douglas, the movie was now a showcase for star Jack Nicholson, and would prove to be the defining performance of his career.

“Cuckoo’s Nest” had a profound impact on the public upon its release, highlighting the dehumanizing effects of institutionalization and advocating for freedom and rebellion against oppressive systems.   Anchored by the magnificent performance of Nicholson as inmate Randle McMurphy and weighted equally with a towering portrayal by Louise Fletcher as antagonist Nurse Ratched, the film eloquently speaks to the enduring importance of human compassion and personal dignity.  It would combine a strong return at the box office with its sweep at the Academy Awards.

This would mark the third straight competition between Nicholson and Al Pacino for the honor of Best Actor.  After both losing in their first competition two years earlier, they came back the following year in career best performances, with Nicholson outstanding in “Chinatown” and Pacino objectively robbed for “The Godfather Part II”.  In their third and final showdown, Pacino would again deserve the recognition for his brilliance in “Dog Day Afternoon”, but it would be Nicholson’s meticulous and provocative portrayal that would finally end his drought and send him to the stage.

Perfectly capturing the rebellion and anarchy of the novel’s protagonist, Nicholson’s work in “Cuckoo’s Nest” can seem, in hindsight, to be a glorified star turn.  Looking closer, it is an intricately realized study of a man made impotent by society, unable to live by its rules but unwilling to remain in its restraints.  Lobotomized, then mercifully euthanized, his righteous opposition survives through the emotional awakening of the Chief, the film’s beating heart, finally breaking free from the system and triumphantly choosing life.

The film’s critical and financial success was both undeniable and deserved.  And in any other year, it would dominate the historical and cultural discussion.  But 1975 had already been conquered, by a movie that defined the concept of the summer blockbuster and established a fear of the water that has terrified swimmers of all ages for generations.

Based on the best-selling beach-read novel, “Jaws” was not anticipated to reconceptualize the moviegoing experience upon its release.  Directed by a then unknown Steven Spielberg, the film was a difficult production with overruns and reshoots foretelling a costly misfire for Universal Pictures.  However, once the final movie was cut together, scored, and presented for studio representatives, an unanticipated alchemy had occurred.  

Pioneering the strategy of the wide release, the studio opened “Jaws” in approximately five hundred theaters across the United States, while simultaneously blanketing the media with an unprecedented level of marketing.  Benefitting from a story that begins one week before the fourth of July, audiences flocked to this summer release in numbers previously unseen, and in the process established what is now Hollywood’s most lucrative season.  And in another first, filmgoers returned to experience the thrills multiple times, reliving the excitement and multiplying the box office. 

Seen alongside the blockbusters of today, “Jaws” can be an incredibly quiet film, gaining much of its power from well-crafted character development and perfectly mounting tension.  The visceral excitement provided is built methodically throughout, not from explosions or high-speed chases, but from brutally effective and carefully orchestrated suspense by a master introducing himself to the public through his art.  Like “The Godfather” three years earlier, “Jaws” is a masterwork rarely achieved in cinema: a perfect meld of filmmaker and film, told brilliantly and without misstep, delivered by a young artist discovering his potential and creating a legacy in real time.

Each element comes together to in the film’s most effecting scene, which begins with the three leads drinking, laughing and comparing scars before unexpectedly shifting tone with the mention of the USS Indianapolis.  Unforgettably delivered by Robert Shaw, in a monologue ghost written by John Milius and heavily reedited by Shaw himself, the description is so vivid that you would think you were shown his recollection on screen in flashback.  But it is not presented to the audience; it is only in Shaw’s performance and our own imagination that we are provided the visuals.  Transitioning from this moment, the tension is broken by an impromptu sing-along among the men and is immediately brought back with the appearance of a now surfaced yellow barrel and very hungry shark.  Truly a masterclass in the art of storytelling, with the audience fully invested in every frame, “Jaws” combined the underlying realism of the New Hollywood movement with the spectacle and thrills of the future blockbuster era.  In the process, Spielberg created what is not just a classic film, but a landmark in the collective culture of our society.  Influential and iconic, it’s impact would be both immediate and seismic.