Jaws

A film set in a summer resort town. A girl disappears in the sea. A piece washes up in the morning and the medical examiner writes shark. Brody is the town's chief of police. He wants the beaches closed; the mayor refuses because the season is about to open. The beaches stay open and there is a second death. From there the film puts three men on a boat. A policeman, a marine biologist, and an old hunter out of the whaling trade. The second half at sea is the best part. Barrels, ropes, a failing engine and a long night in a cabin. Quint's story about a warship is in one take with no music and is the strongest scene in the film. What the narrative is interested in is not the shark but the town: the whole first half is about a local government putting tourism ahead of people's lives. The animal is barely seen. That was not a choice but a necessity; the mechanical shark kept failing in sea water and the director had to build tension without showing it. The result saved the film. The music is built on two notes and stands in for the animal. It was shot on open water and the schedule ran months over; the budget tripled. The film won three Academy Awards: music, editing and sound. It opened wide in the summer and is taken as the production that started the habit of the cinema summer season. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss are in the cast. Steven Spielberg directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes tension built out of absence. Who it is not for: anyone looking for speed; the first half is slow and takes place on land.