I just came back from seeing the Jaws 50th Anniversary screening and having never seen it at a Cinema before, I must say it works much better as a movie on the silver screen. While John Williams’ distinctive score has always stood out, I was very pleasantly surprised by the Cinematography – adeptly shot by Bill Butler, ASC.
Universal Studios spent a lot of time restoring the original negative a few years back, so the picture is probably better than the 1975 35mm print. So camera shots which just pass by on a smaller screen actually look phenomenal on the big screen today. I had always thought the film’s numerous close ups were a sign of an intention to play well on TV. But now I can see why it played so well in movie houses 50 years ago. If you watch it in the cinema this week, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
How can a film that’s 50 years old provide a wonderfully fulfilling cinematic experience, when I know it’s Special Effects had gone fantastically wrong for the Director, who also chose to shoot the film not from the safety of a studio tank, but out at Sea?!
Jaws is reported to be the first Blockbuster, but the blockbusters of today with the sky-high budgets and dependence on digital effects don’t have the cinematic crafting and subtle creativity of a film like Jaws. Like, sure they sell the most tickets, but there’s not much choice other than ‘superhero’ kids movies when you go to the Cinema these days. The only recent film that looks different and stands out from the crowd is the Toxic Avenger (a remake of the 1984 version), which has managed to get an extremely wide distribution, globally. Perhaps the ‘name’ cast (including Peter Dinklage and Kevin Bacon) had some influence on that. I know that the trades say it’s because Terrifier III was a hit earlier this year, but I don’t know, it’s certainly an eye opener. And it had to get past the gatekeeper-like remarks of producers in the industry who put the film down before it had even struck a distribution deal. I certainly think it’s an indication of a change in the whole Distribution ‘ethos’.
As a filmmaker and fan of great filmmaking, I hope it’s a sign that Cinemas are opening up to a wider variety of productions on their roster, which appear to have been dominated by blockbuster style films that only cater for certain ‘catch-all’ audiences. According to Hollywood Reporter, Jaws’ box office performance is currently outperforming more than two studio pictures! Quite a catch for the big fish at 50. Maybe the Distribution end of the business will finally learn to look for higher quality movies, with lower budgets in future – rather than take punts on stratospheric profits from overblown blockbusters which we’ve seen a little too much of in the past 25 years. When classics of cinema return to Cinemas and can be compared like-for-like with newer productions, the film business as a whole has a chance to “course correct”.
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