鈥淛aws鈥 isn鈥檛 a monster movie.
It鈥檚 a people movie, says Laurent Bouzereau, the director of 鈥淛aws @ 50,鈥 a documentary about the blockbuster.
鈥淚t鈥檚 relatable and feels extremely timeless,鈥 Bouzereau says. When director Steven Spielberg doesn鈥檛 show the shark in the beginning, 鈥渢hat stimulates your imagination and you鈥檙e fully participating in the action. There are a lot of benchmarks and lessons to get from it, if you want to be a storyteller.鈥
Director Steven Spielberg on the set of "Jaws" with the mechanical shark in the background.聽
Spielberg, he says, is a master at the form and, as 鈥淛aws鈥 demonstrated, leaned into other ways of telling that story when things like the mechanical shark didn鈥檛 work.
Offered the opportunity to quit the film, Spielberg resisted. 鈥淚 know there鈥檚 a great movie there,鈥 he told a studio head. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a rite of passage.鈥
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鈥淛aws鈥 was also a rite of passage for the director, Bouzereau says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great metaphor for art in general. If you survive the making of 鈥楯aws,鈥 you鈥檙e in.鈥
Steven Spielberg, director of "Jaws" and Director Laurent Bouzereau are pictured during an interview for National Geographic's "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story."
In 鈥淛aws @ 50,鈥 the documentarian talks to many of the film鈥檚 participants and demonstrates how it affected pop culture, circa 1975.
As big as it is today聽鈥 鈥淛aws鈥 is considered the first blockbuster by many 鈥 鈥淛aws鈥 was a nightmare during the filming process.
In addition to studio personnel nagging him about cost overruns, Spielberg had to deal with temperamental actors, weather changes and a community of extras wondering what was happening with the movie shot in their town.
Toss in the anticipation of those who had read Peter Benchley鈥檚 best-seller and there were a lot of detractors who could have taken Spielberg down. He persevered and went on to make some of the most iconic films in screen history.
Steven Spielberg, director of "Jaws," films the mechanical shark on set.聽
鈥淐lose Encounters of the Third Kind,鈥 his follow-up film, was a dream project. 鈥淥n the heels of 鈥楯aws,鈥 he was really into that,鈥 Bouzereau says. 鈥淭he (鈥楯aws鈥) sequels were not really in his orbit because the path of his storytelling was guiding him to a certain house.鈥
In the documentary, Spielberg admits the success of 鈥淛aws鈥 gave him final cut on all the rest of his movies 鈥 a privilege few directors get.
Talking with a generation of filmmakers inspired by Spielberg, Bouzereau says they owe him a debt of gratitude, often for different reasons. 鈥淚 wanted this new generation of filmmakers (in the documentary) because 鈥楯aws鈥 is passed on from generation to generation.鈥
Guillermo del Toro, for example, is obsessed with monsters 鈥 and liked that aspect of 鈥淛aws.鈥 Steven Soderbergh 鈥渋s obsessed with making movies really fast and economically.鈥
Others were drawn to the film鈥檚 ability to draw a huge crowd.
鈥淭he thing that鈥檚 unique about 鈥楯aws鈥 is the sudden cultural phenomenon that it became,鈥 Bouzereau say. 鈥淓verybody was humming the score. (There were skits) on 鈥楽aturday Night Live.鈥 There were political cartoons and a book on the making of 鈥楯aws,鈥 which was not something that was done at the time. There were baseball caps and T-shirts and beach towels. People wanted to own it as an experience.鈥
鈥淛aws鈥 created a template that 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 was able to maximize just two years later.
Now, a summer doesn鈥檛 seem complete without a film that becomes part of the cultural zeitgeist.
鈥淛aws,鈥 Bouzereau says, is a story of survival, perseverance and conviction. Like the three men trying to slay the monster, Spielberg had his own monsters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those rare instances where the experience of making it is very much the experience of the actual story.鈥
鈥淛aws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,鈥 which features interviews with Spielberg, actors, production personnel and critics, airs July 10 on National Geographic and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.
