"Thanks For Jaws": An Open Letter To Steven Spielberg
My open to letter to celebrate the re-release of Jaws.
'Jaws' is my most beloved film. I watch it on a regular basis, and it is just one of those films that has a certain pertinence in my life. Yesterday marked the cinematic re-release of this classic here in the UK. We have been celebrating that here at WhatCulture with these great articles: 10 Things You Didn't KnowJaws Review: The Inaugural Blockbuster Remains A Classic So I thought "how can i show my appreciation?" - Then I realised, the best way to celebrate would be to write an open letter to Steven Spielberg. So here goes: To Mr Steven Spielberg, You have no doubt had a lot of people express their thoughts to you over the years about various projects, which you have directed, and here is one more. This is a letter of thanks. Thanks for making the masterpiece of cinema that is Jaws. You have done a lot of great work in your career so far, but in my humble opinion, Jaws is the best. The older I get, the more I hear about the production of your fish movie, and the more it cements in my mind the level of genius with which you operated at such a young age. There is no secret that Jaws was a beast of a production and had you fulfilled your original vision, the finished film would have been very different. As any creative individual will know, creation is a series of sacrifices and happy accidents. What a happy accident it is then, that you got to make the film which you never knew you intended to make. Francis Bacon once said, one must select what part of the accident one chooses to preserve. How marvellous that you preserved what you did in Jaws. It was precisely these decisions which make the film such a lasting work, and make it one of the greatest films in cinematic history. If it was your intention to destroy the healthy recreation of swimming for generations of people, then well done. Barring Hitchcock, the only other person I know who has put such fear into the mundane pastimes of life is Bob Clark; with his film Porkies II. Thanks to you both, I can no longer enjoy the cool freedom of the ocean nor can I sit on a toilet without worrying about snakes. Then when you add in the cross dressing nut job that Psycho gave us, its a wonder I can go anywhere near water full stop! As much as I hate that Jaws filled my childhood with nightmares of Robert Shaws blood soaked face and an innate dread of piers. I also cannot quite fathom how vividly it has also filled my adult life with a fear of the sea and an undying ambition to make movies. Although cinema in general has always played a part in my ever-expanding love for it, your films have always been especially influential to me. From a standpoint of film direction and storytelling, I think Jaws is one of the most referenced works for me. I will never forget the first time I saw that scene where Sean screams while Michael Brody floats in the water staring in shock, at a nearby boater being munched alive. That birds eye view of the hulking grey monster swimming along side those almost miniscule helpless children, made me feel for the first time that I was watching a technique. At once, the filmmaker within me was jump-started to life like Boris Karloffs monster in Frankenstein. Now that Jaws has been given a digital transfer and is being re-released at cinemas, I hope that many more get to have that same light bulb moment that I, and no doubt many others, had all those years ago. At a time when film seems to be at a point of divide - entertainment vs. worth - it is these moments of respectful memorial to classics such as Jaws that we can all be reminded that such a thing as entertaining art does and can exist. May I also extend a grateful thank you to the folks at Universal Studios, who have taken the time to give this modernising treatment to a handful of their most honourable catalogue. There is no debasement in taking the old and making it look fresh. If anything, I am very much looking forward to watching the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird and Dracula in 4K resolution. When my child is born later this year, I will be counting down the days until they are old enough to sit and watch these shining examples of golden age cinema with a crystal clear image. For me, films are like dreams, and its the good ones which you want to keep for years to come. But most of all, Im looking forward to 15th June 2022 when an questionably irresponsible Dad (me) sits his 10-year-old son/daughter down for the very first time to watch what he considers one of the best films ever made. At the point that child finds their moment of pure appreciation for that villainous aquatic animal, they will look up at their father and say; Dad, who made this film? I love it! This wont be a one off moment Mr Spielberg. Thats the sort of thing that happens many many times every day throughout the world. That is the legacy that you hold, and it all starts with a giant rubber shark called Bruce. With deepest respect and admiration, Brad Williams