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Notes from Underground

  And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?---Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Even now, so many years later, all this is somehow a very evil memory. I have many evil memories now, but ... hadn’t I better end my “Notes” here? I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment.  Why, to tell long stories, showing how I have spoiled my life through morally rotting in my corner, through lack of fitting environment, through divorce from real life, and rankling spite in my underground world, would certainly not be interesting; a novel needs a hero, and all the traits for an anti-hero are expressly gathered together here, and what matters most, it all produces an unpleasant impression, for we are...
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Hope

To be human is to be a miracle of evolution conscious of its own miraculousness — a consciousness beautiful and bittersweet, for we have paid for it with a parallel awareness not only of our fundamental improbability but of our staggering fragility, of how physiologically precarious our survival is and how psychologically vulnerable our sanity. To make that awareness bearable, we have evolved a singular faculty that might just be the crowning miracle of our consciousness: hope.-- Erich Fromm


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Jaws (1975)

 




WORLD FIRST BLOCKBUSTER


A Critical Analysis of the Films of Steven Spielberg >>>



“You’re going to need a bigger boat.“

So the police chief famously informs the shark hunter, right after the first brief appearance of the man-eater in “Jaws.” It’s not simply a splendid line of dialogue, it’s an example of Steven Spielberg’s strategy all through the film, where the shark is more talked about than seen, and seen more in terms of its actions than in the flesh. There is a story that when producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown first approached Spielberg with an offer to direct the film of Peter Benchley’s best seller, he said he would do it on one condition: that the shark not be seen for the first hour. 

In keeping the Great White offscreen, Spielberg was employing a strategy used by Alfred Hitchcock throughout his career. “A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is surprise,” said Hitchcock. “The bomb is under the table but it does not explode: That is suspense.” Spielberg leaves the shark under the table for most of the movie. And many of its manifestations in the later part of the film are at second hand: We don’t see the shark but the results of his actions. The payoff is one of the most effective thrillers ever made.

The movie takes place over the Fourth of July weekend on Amity Island, a tourist resort that feeds off the dollars of its visitors. A famous opening sequence establishes the presence of a man-eating shark in the coastal waters; a girl goes swimming by moonlight and is dragged under, screaming. All evidence points to a shark, but Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) doesn’t want to scare away tourists, and orders Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief, to keep the beaches open. “If people can’t swim here, they’ll be glad to swim in the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island,” the mayor tells Brody, who spits back: “That doesn’t mean we have to serve them up a smorgasbord.” But the mayor strides on the beach wearing a sport coat and tie, encouraging people to go into the water. They do, with predictable results.





Spielberg’s first big hit contained elements he repeated in many of his movies. A night sea hunt for the shark provides an early example of his favorite visual hallmark, a beam of light made visible by fog. He would continue to devote close attention to characters, instead of hurrying past them to the special effects, as so many 1990s f/x directors did. In “Jaws” and subsequently, he prefers mood to emotional bludgeoning, and one of the remarkable things about the picture is its relatively muted tone. The familiar musical theme by John Williams is not a shrieker, but low and insinuating. It’s often heard during point-of-view shots, at water level and below, that are another way Spielberg suggests the shark without showing it. The cinematography, by Bill Butler, is at pains to tell the story in the midst of middle-class America; if Spielberg’s favorite location would become the suburbs, “Jaws” shows suburbanites on vacation.

“Jaws” was released in 1975, quickly becoming the highest-grossing picture made up to that time, and forever wresting the summer releasing season away from B movies and exploitation pictures. The major Hollywood studios, which had avoided summer, now identified it as the prime releasing season, and “Jaws” inspired hundreds of summer thrillers and f/x pictures. For Spielberg, the movie was the launching pad for the most extraordinary directorial career in modern movie history.









  3. MORE ABOUT FILM



    6. Jaws | "You’re Going To Need a Bigger Boat"


    The Making of Jaws








  10. Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1975, Jaws is widely considered the first true summer "blockbuster." Based on Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel, the film redefined the movie industry, changing how films were marketed and distributed.













  21. Key Characters

    • Martin Brody (Roy Scheider): The everyman protagonist. As a former New York City police officer, he is an outsider to the island culture and represents moral responsibility over political optics. His fear of the water makes his arc—eventually taking to the ocean to face his phobia—all the more impactful.

    • Quint (Robert Shaw): The grizzled, traumatized veteran. He represents raw, obsessive nature and experience. His haunting monologue about the USS Indianapolis is widely regarded as one of the most powerful acting moments in cinema.

    • Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): The voice of modern science and intellectualism. He bridges the gap between Brody’s law enforcement background and Quint’s rugged seafaring ways.













  32. Critical Reception & Awards

    • Critical Acclaim: Upon release, Jaws received near-universal acclaim. Critics praised Spielberg’s masterful direction, the performances, and the film's ability to sustain unbearable tension.

    • Academy Awards: The film was a major success at the 48th Academy Awards. It was nominated for Best Picture and won three Oscars: Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score (John Williams), and Best Sound.












  41. Cultural Impact & Legacy

    • The First Blockbuster: Jaws set the template for the modern summer blockbuster, emphasizing wide theatrical releases and aggressive television advertising.

    • The "Jaws Effect": The film famously caused widespread fear of swimming in the ocean and significantly impacted the public perception of sharks for decades.

    • John Williams’ Score: The minimalist, two-note motif composed by John Williams is one of the most recognizable pieces of film music in history, effectively signaling the shark's presence even when it is not on screen.






Trivia

  • The Mechanical Shark: The production was plagued by technical malfunctions with the mechanical shark (nicknamed "Bruce"). This forced Spielberg to shoot the movie in a way that hid the shark for most of the film, which inadvertently created much more suspense.

  • The Iconic Line: The improvised line "You're gonna need a bigger boat" became one of the most famous quotes in movie history.







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