Teeth of the sea ( Jaws --“Jaws”-- in original version) is a film American, kind horror - thriller, carried out by Steven Spielberg and left on the screens in June 1975. Second feature-length film of the young director then 29 years old, it is adapted Best-seller éponyme of Peter Benchley, published in 1974 to the editions Doubleday . The novel as film were a critical and commercial success world. Equipped with a budget of 12 million dollars, the film will bring back 470 in the world of them.

In the history of the cinema, the Teeth of the sea is presented as being a film hinge, since he was retrospectively regarded as the first of the American Blockbuster S. This film will launch the fashion of the tenpole pictures , the action films with large budget which the Hollywood studios leave during the summer (for American, the base period is defined like energy of 1st Friday of May to 1st Monday of September).

After the success of regard of the telefilm Duel (1st diffusion on ABC in November 1971) and the failure of Sugarland Express train left in April 1974 (12,8 million dollars of receipts in the world for a budget of 3 million), Steven Spielberg finds the international recognition with the Teeth of the sea , which gains in particular 3 Oscars. Since, its talent of scenario writer and business man was confirmed.

The film was the subject of three continuations which were a business success and critical decreasing, the Teeth of sea 2 , the Teeth of sea 3 and the Teeth of sea 4: revenge .

The film

General presentation

Synopsis

detailed Article : History of the Teeth of the sea

During the summer 1975, on the island of Amity, young people make a night festival on a beach. Chrissie Watkins, one of the young women present, from there will be caught a bath of midnight, followed by an young man. After being itself undressed while running in the dunes, it is launched, without the young man, for its part too drunk to swim. After some pitch-stirrers in the Atlantic Ocean, it is made grab by something located in lower part of the sea level. It struggles, whirls, howls, then disappears under water.

The following day, Martin Brody, chief of the local police, is called on the spot of disappearance. A policeman whistles to prevent it: it has just found on sand the arm torn off and putrefied victim.

On its own boss, Brody decides to close all the beaches of the island, which arrives at knowknowing the mayor who opposes it firmly. One is then with 5  days of the 4  July, national Festival American and true beginning of the summer season. For him, it is not question of making fear with the tourists who will not be long in unloading in mass on the island. He probably prefers speech of an accident to a Hélice.

But whereas Martin Brody, opposed, share to make the monitoring of the principal beach, a black Labrador and an young child are devoured by a shark, within sight of all the tourists present, completely horrified.

The mayor cannot hide the business become any more public, the more so as the mother of the assassinated child promises, by way of posting and press, 3  000  dollars with whoever will capture and kill the shark responsible for dead for his/her son. In urgency, the mayor convenes an assembly of notable to decide continuation of the events. At this point in time at the bottom of the room, an old old seaman, Quint, propose to drive out and kill the shark, but for a reward of 10  000  dollars which he wants to divide with nobody other.

Data sheet

Distribution

Analyzes

Description of the main characters

• Martin Brody : One knows of him that it is married (in Ellen) and has two children (Michael and Sean who will take again his torch in the last two episodes of the quadrilogy). He also says to be originating in New York (before discovering the body of the 1st victim) and that it is the first time that he is chief of the police force with Amity (dixit the mayor at the time of the scene of the wolf cubs). He with the spirit of initiative (by closing office all beaches), has particular respect for the authority (see its permanent confrontation with the mayor), there does not know absolutely nothing with the sharks (for that, he gets information in scientific books) and has a certain courage (although detesting holy water, he leaves to drive out the shark in open sea). He has also humor, as when he imitates the accent of Amity (“children are in the garden, they risk anything, they are not well far”).

• Matt Hooper : It is a scientist specialized in the sharks, after having seen in its youth a baby Requin fox of 1 m 50 putting in charpie a boat in front of him (what he explains at the time of the meal at Brody). It is known that it comes from a scientific institute of the continent, without knowing the name of it, and that it was called with the rescue by the mayor. Vis-a-vis the sharks, its attitude of scientist is opposed to that of Quint which is more pragmatic, founded on the experiment. Lastly, it is a smiling man who likes blaguer (when at the time of the sequence of comparison of scars, he says that worst its wounds is that of Mary Ellen Moffit which broke the heart to him).

• Quint : It is man solitary (he wants to drive out the shark alone), venal (he wants 10.000 dollars in exchange of the shark, and not 3000 as Mrs Kintner proposes it), unforeseeable (when he breaks the radio of the Orca with a Batte of baseball) and sure of him (he makes fun of the cage anti-shark of Matt Hooper, unquestionable of the cogency of these methods). But it is also a jovial fellow who has humor (its frank fun with Matt Hooper at the time of the sequence of comparison of scars). It can also be obstinate and authoritative (when it returns to the port at any speed, with the risk to explode the machines). Old old seaman fascinated by the sharks (the walls of its hut of fisherman are covered with jaws of this animal), it has especially a hatred towards them and a revenge to be achieved (it will explain of it the origin in his long monolog). The such Captain Achab of Moby Dick , it is been obstinated by the tracking of the shark, and will be ready with all as long as it will not have killed it. Lastly, it is the standard figure of the sailor, magnet to sing the traditional song Spanish Ladies on all occasions.

• Larry Vaughan : It is the exact opposite of Martin Brody. Where Brody is pessimistic, Vaughan remains optimistic, where the first wants to close the beaches in a preventive way, the second wants to leave them open, even when the events give him wrong. He fears first of all that the tourists do not come any more or leave its island. He does not appreciate at all that the sign of the city is turned in derision by tourists (repainted with an aileron of shark and the words “help shark”). He is lying (when he wants to requalify the death of the 1st victim in “accident due to a propeller”), stubborn, manipulator (when in the public meeting, he accepts that the beaches are closed… for 12 midnight only, which he had not said to Brody); he minimizes the danger unceasingly, but he can also human being (when Brody is made slap by Mrs Kintner or when he gives green light to Brody to drive out the shark, thinking of his own children). Lastly, contrary to the novel, it does not have any bond with the Mafia.

• Ellen Brody : While passing from the book to the screen, its role was reduced like shagreen. In the novel of Peter Benchley, one knows that it has 36  years (with the screen, it appears older), one also learns how it met her husband and that currently, it is bored in his couple, charging the fault to him. This is why it will have a connection with Matt Hooper. In film, nothing of all that is mentioned. It remains elegant, retained and held, but it is especially shown like a loving wife and an attentive mother. She does not take share with the action directly.

Places of turning

In the scenario, all the intrigue is supposed to proceed in Amity Island, an island close to New York, from of which Martin Brody known as to come. The place is fictitious and actually, the majority of the external scenes were turned to Martha's Vineyard in the Massachusetts. The observers who, in film, leave horrified at water and shout on the beach, are truths paid inhabitants of the island 64 dollars.

With the success of film, the estival population of the island tripled compared to the other years, this being mainly with the arrival the curious one which wished to see the places of turning of their own eyes, undoubtedly with research about any aileron about shark outgoing about water.

A little by nostalgia and much for reasons marketing, a festival commemorating the 30 years of the exit of film in room was organized at Martha's Vineyard. Named Jawsfest , it was organized from June 3rd to 5th 2005 by Universal. It gathered hundreds the curious one, like several members of the team of turning of film. Appeared thus in the program:

• Peter Benchley (writer of the book adapted out of film and Co-scenario writer) • Joe Alves (decorator chief) • Carl Gottlieb (Co-scenario writer) • Susan Backlinie (actress, role of Christine Watkins, the first victim of the shark) • Jeffrey Kramer (actor, role of the deputy Leonard Hendricks) • Jay Mello (actor, Sean Brody, one of two wire of Martin Brody) • Lee Fierro (actress, role of Mrs. Kintner) • Robert Carroll (actor, role of Mr. Polk) • Jeffrey Voorhees (actor, role of Mr. Kintner) • Shari Rhodos (choice of casting) • Roy Arbogast (mechanical special effects)

On the spot took place of the signatures of autographs, a projection in the open air in the port of Martha' S Haven, the inhabitants of the island told anecdotes of turning, a counterpart of the false shark was exposed etc

Moreover, Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor, animalist photographers specialized in the sharks, carried out certain underwater sights with truths sharks, for the needs for the scene where Matt Hooper is locked up in a cage with the shark around him. As the false sharks were taller than the real sharks, it was decided to make double Richard Dreyfuss by a dwarf in a small cage, thus giving the illusion which the filmed shark is taller than it is it actually.

Production and turning

detailed Article : Production and turning of the Teeth of the sea

The setting in scene was testing for the realizer, the actors, the producers and the engineering team. The turning of the external sights, which began on May 2nd, 1974, was to finish at the latest on June 25th, but it of it was nothing. It will be prolonged in fact until September 15th, 1974, and in same time, the budget which was initially fixed at 2,5 million dollars will explode to 12 million dollars.

Production

Before even the publication of Jaws , the novel of Peter Benchley, David Brown reads a critic of the book and all the cinematographic potential smells some. With its associate Richard D. Zanuck, it buys the rights of adaptation of the novel and request to its author to draw a scenario for the screen from it. But after several grindings, the result does not satisfy the duet which entrusted meanwhile the realization of film to the young person Steven Spielberg from which they came to produce Sugarland Express.

The scenario advances little and time presses. The Screen Actors Guild (the trade union of the professional actors) threat to call with the strike starting from June 28th, 1974 and any studio would not engage in a project whose turning would be prolonged beyond this date.

This is why the producers utilize Howard Sackler and John Milius, which will be at the origin of the monolog of Quint on the shipwreck of the US Indianapolis .

In same time, the place of turning is found. It will be Martha's Vineyard, which is adequate being because of the neap tides and of the shallow waters near the beaches, thus making it possible to film all the day.

On its side, Steven Spielberg contacts the engineering team of Sugarland Express , hoping well to employ again it to the maximum on its new project. He convinces the decorator Joe Alves, future realizer of the Dents of sea 3, the director of production Bill Gillmore and the régisseuse one of distribution Shari Rhodos. The Chief operator Vilmos Zsigmond being inalienable, Spielberg called upon Bill Butler with which it had worked on the telefilms Something Evil (1972) and Savage (1973). Finally it takes again Verna Fields, which with the advantage of being relatively close to Ned Tanen, at the time president of Universal Pictures.

Whereas Carl Gottlieb is called to finalize the scenario, the choices of casting are distinct. Roy Scheider, which has been just pointed out in French Connection of William Friedkin (1971), will camp Martin Brody, and Matt Hooper will be incarnated by Richard Dreyfuss. For the role of Quint, it is Sterling Hayden which is approximate in first, actor who had been distinguished in When the city sleeps of John Huston (1950) or the Ultimate Raid of Stanley Kubrick (1956). But it cannot accept having contentions with the Internal Revenue Service in connection with a history of unpaid taxes. The role is finally offered against 100.000 dollars to Robert Shaw which was pointed out the previous year by its interpretation of Doyle Lonnegan, gangster of Swindles It George Roy Hill (1973). Lastly, as it is of habit to let choose the producers for the supporting roles, Richard D. Zanuck proposes for the role of Ellen Brody that which was his wife of 1969 to 1978, the actress Linda Harrison ( the Planet of the monkeys , 747 in danger ). But Spielberg had already chosen Lorraine Gary, the woman of Sidney Sheinberg, general President-director of Music Corporation off America which had at the time Universal Pictures.

Turning

The engineering team takes her districts with Edgartown, town of less than 4.000 inhabitants located at Martha's Vineyard. Once on the spot, the sudden scenario of the final final improvements and the dialogs are re-examined until the last moment.

The first problem comes from the production costs which do not cease climbing. Initially because of the trade unions: local unions of New York and Boston of the I.A.T.S.E. (International Alliance off Theatrical Training course Employed) protecting from the too many teams (at least 100 people present simultaneously on the plate, when half would have is enough), even transfering technicians not syndicated to replace them by union member. The trade union of the truck-drivers is also interfered, threatening to make stop the production if the employees do not take all not drunk it to go on the spot of turning. To that are added the costs induced by the film developed in California, the price of the hotel rooms of the island which climb from 14 to 45 dollars the night, the combinations of diving which total 60 dollars moreover than if they came from Los Angeles, a guarantee of 100.000 dollars required by the authorities of Martha's Vineyard for the safeguarding of site etc

But the second problem is worse still. The three false sharks Animatronique S in Polyuréthane conceived by Robert A. Mattey are fragile and function badly. The journalists who start to know about the business come espionner turning and spread the difficulties encountered by the production.

At the end of July 1974, Sidney Sheinberg, then general President-director of Music Corporation off America which had at the time Universal Pictures, is irritated and convened Spielberg, the realizer, Zanuck and Brown, the producers, in order to have an explanation on the times of turning and the budget which increase unceasingly. He threatens to put an end to the project if the problems are not quickly regulated

Fortunately, the strike announced by the Screen Actors Guild is cancelled. Turning in outside is definitively completed on December 15th, 1974, after 155 days of catches of sights. The initial budget was largely exceeded, but without damage when one knows the extraordinary course with the boxoffice that with have this film at the time.

Film adaptation

detailed Article : Adaptation of the novel of Peter Benchley to the cinema

The film of Steven Spielberg left in 1975 is the adaptation of the novel éponyme of Peter Benchley published one year earlier.

Grandson of Robert Benchley (1889-1945), humorist, actor and journalist, and wire of Nathaniel Benchley (1915-1981), writer of books for children, Peter Benchley (1940-2006) bathe in the literary circle since his childhood. Two years after an English diploma obtained with the University Harvard, it launches out in 1963 in journalism, with articles written for The Washington Post then of 1963 to 1967 for the Hebdomadaire Newsweek. After a short passage of 1967 to 1969 with the White House, as a writer of the speeches of the democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson, it is reconverted into freelance journalism, working for Holiday , Life , Travel , The New Yorker , Time Magazine or the National Geographic .

In 1964, Peter Benchley reads an article of the New York Daily News reporting the capture by a fisherman of a shark of 2 tons to broad of Long Island. He will draw the idea from it to write a novel on the sharks which will become, ten years later, Jaws .

But it is outside which the catch will come to begin the writing of the book. This release is an agent of the publisher Doubleday , Thomas Congdon. At the beginning of 1970, after having read some articles that Benchley wrote for various magazines, it invites it to eat in a French restaurant of New York in order to determine if the journalist would not have some interesting ideas being able to give matter to the writing of a book. Benchley speaks to him then about its history of shark. Congdon is hung and offers to him $1,000 in exchange of the first 100 pages. With the reading of the first jet that Benchley returns to him, Congdon is not satisfied. The tone of the account is too humorous with its taste, considering that sticks badly with the environment of a thriller. He thus asks him to rewrite 95% of his test.

At the exit of the book and as a whole, criticisms are not good. In The Village Voice , Donald Newlove known as of the novel which it is “tedious, without interest, slackness”, the lack thickness of the characters is décrié by John Spurling in the New Statesman and the poverty of the intrigue is pointed by John Skow in TIME or in The Listener .

However, an element does not leave indifferent criticisms: the shark. The Miami Herald thus defers remarks of Jacques-Yves Cousteau which affirms that “as well written and documented it is, it is a bad book. The sharks do not act as that is described in the novel”. On the contrary, Patricia Meyer Spacks estimates in The Hudson Review that “shark is undoubtedly the most interesting character of the book”.

The majority of criticisms agree nevertheless on a point, the supposed sources of inspiration of Peter Benchley for his novel, who go from Moby Dick , novel of Hermann Melville appeared in 1851, while passing by The Old Man and the Sea , novel of Ernest Hemingway appeared in 1952, and to finish with an Enemy of the people , part of 1882 of Henrik Ibsen.

Sometimes not very flattering, these criticisms had however only one weak impact on the sales of the novel, sales which flew away as of its publication. The book will remain 44 weeks at the head sales in the United States. In one year, after many translations in other languages, more than 9 million specimens will be sold, mainly in the months which followed its exit, the success of film giving him a second breath.

Without awaiting this best-seller, the producer of cinema David Brown very early decides to repurchase the rights of the book, alerted by an article of Cosmopolitan on the novel, which was concluded by these words “it is not great literature, but one could draw a good film from it”. Brown and Richard D. Zanuck, the second producer of the film the Teeth of the sea , offer $175,000 to Peter Benchley for the rights of exploitation of its novel to the cinema, plus $25,000 so that he writes itself the scenario of film. Later, he will see himself associating the assistance of Carl Gottlieb. Five successive versions of the scenario will be written.

A few years before, Zanuck had had a project remained abortive: to adapt for the 20th Century Fox, the play of Howard Sackler on the black boxer Jack Johnson, The Great White Hope ( the insurrectionist ). He entrusts the responsibility to him to intervene on the scenario of Benchley and Gottlieb, with the manner of a Script doctor. Not wishing to be credited, Sackler will be locked up one month with the hotel Beautiful-Air of Los Angeles to rewrite certain scenes. With John Milius, it will write the 1st version of the monolog of Quint, concerning the shipwreck of the US Indianapolis . Occurred on July 30th, 1945, it put at the sea 900 sailors during 5 days, including one certain number finished devoured by the sharks. The monolog will be finally improved by Robert Shaw itself, so as to be more compact, percussion.

Among the notable differences existing with final between the novel and the book, let us quote the disappearance of the love affair between Ellen Brody and Matt Hooper, as well as the disappearance of bonds with the Maffia of the mayor of Amity, Larry Vaughn.

Beyond these factual modifications of the account, the most important change having taken place for the adaptation remains the change of tone. Finished humor, and where Benchley supports descriptions, the effects, the thoughts of the characters, Spielberg does nothing but suggest, leaving to the spectator a great part of imagination. The mysterious atmosphere and the feeling of diffuse threat make that the film is paradoxically more psychological than the book.

Music

Once finished turning, Steven Spielberg gives its green light to John Williams to compose the music of film.

This last is 42 years old and is not an unknown. At that time, in addition to the fact that he already worked with Spielberg on the original soundtrack of Sugarland Express, one owes him also a violin on the roof in 1971 for which he will gain its 1st Oscar, the Adventure of Poséidon in 1972 or the Infernal Tower in 1974. And following the Teeth of the sea , it will compose all the musics of the feature-length films carried out by Spielberg, except for the Color crimson (B.O of Quincy Jones) and of the Fourth Dimension (B.O of Jerry Goldsmith).

Spielberg proposes to him to soften the violent scenes of film with calm music, even why not of the piano to represent the shark, a little in the spirit of the band that Williams composed in 1972 for Images of Robert Altman. The musician is not of this opinion and imagines something of more tonic. It is that beyond already quoted films, John Williams is during his symphonic time “” which will extend until 1983, with films like Star Wars , Indiana Jones or Superman , where it will use all the power of the Orchestre. It is also a period ostentation at the personal level, where it will receive the recognition of its pars with 3 Golden Globes, 4 BAFTA, and 4 Oscars ( a violin on the roof in 1971, Teeth of the sea in 1975, Star Wars in 1977 and E.T extraterrestrial the in 1982).

Throughout its career, the music of John Williams was seen taxed with academism, however here, it shows inventiveness. Thus, it takes up an idea of the film the Four feathers white of Miklós Rózsa (1939), by using the Enclume as instrument, within the rhythmic structure. Thereafter, this process will be very much used by the young science fiction film or action film type-setters. In the same way, the alternation which it makes of the tonal music and atonal (without particular melody) reveals to be relevant, in particular in the credits. Lastly, the orchestra can make silence when it is necessary, as at the time of died of Quint.

In film, the orchestra has two principal functions. Initially that traditional musicalement to describe the major thoughts of the characters, such a “Current of conscience”, for example at the moment when the Brody chief is made engueuler in public by the mother of small Alex Mr. Kintner, the 3rd victim. Then that original to give body to the main character of film: the shark. Because if one quickly includes/understands who is the monster and whom one hears of it much speak, until half of film, it does not appear only one second with the screen. It is only at the end of the 5th victim, a man on a boat, which one will start to see. And still, furtively and partly. Initially it is right a silhouette slipping under water, then later an exceeding aileron of the floods, and finally an open and fatal mouth, but almost in film end.

To give him body, John Williams developed a music repetitive, obsessional, made of two only notes, Fa and Fa♯. This binary reason, main theme of film become famous, makes think of palpitations or a Antagonisme “well/badly”. It really original since is not clearly inspired by the opening of the Rite of Spring of Igor Stravinski, namely the beginning of the first table of the ballet, the worship of the ground . One can also perceive the influence of orchestral part the Sea (opus L 109) of Claude Debussy. Moreover, the process had already been used by Bernard Herrmann in films of Alfred Hitchcock, Death with the cases in 1959 or Psychose in 1960.

This topic reveals two other characteristics which one will find in the music throughout film: the principal reason is repeated ad infinitum in manner crescendo and the end of the piece is tended and brutal, without bridge (transition) with the following scene. This strange manner to pass directly from one scene to the other without transition in the assembly and the music and from to the will from Spielberg to take as a starting point the methods of the New wave.

At the time of hunting for the shark, whereas John Williams had given identity sound for each character (for Brody, the Xylophone which represents related childhood and its fears), he has fun to scramble the sounds before deploying all the power of his orchestra in the strongest scenes on the dramatic level. Then, by one seizing opposite course, it stops clear the music at the time of died of Quint, one of the points of organ of film. In this sequence where the shark forever be also present, it does not need more to be represented in music, the spectator not having any more to imagine a imminent danger, but to look at a man being made devour. The danger is not any more about the indeed real phantasm but, which explains at the visual level the great quantity of blood seen with the screen, and on the noise level the sounds of objects slipping or knocking the ones against the others (at this time sinking boat of film).

Lastly, John Williams whom one sometimes showed to use too much the style fireman (music thundering, theatrical, dramatic, supported), can also show humor as when the tourists unload on the island of Amity for the national Festival of the July 4th. Whereas they are with the current which a shark made of the victims, they think that the fishermen amateurs captured it and that they are with the shelter. Some will come even to tagger the sign from the island, by derision. Matt Hooper, Quint and Martin Brody however know well that the fatal shark continues to grind. The type-setter translates this environment by an obsolete and shifted music, using Clavecin S with the manner of a Bach.

Currently, three versions of the disc exist on the market: 1st the original music begins again appearing indeed in film, left in 1975 in vinyl and republished in 1992 in CD, the 2nd appeared in July 2000 finally includes pieces which had been recorded at the time but not included in film, 3rd is a new recording of John Williams adding several topics which did not exist at the time of the exit of the film ( to also see the appendix ).

Around film

Boxoffice

detailed Article : Results with the boxoffice of the Teeth of the sea

the Teeth of the sea leaves on the American screens on Friday, June 20, 1975 on a circuit limited 409 screens, which will go up to 464 screens on Friday, July 11, then 675 on Friday, July 27. The film collects $7,061,513 as of its 1st weekend of exploitation in the United States. At this speed, the 12 million dollars of budget is refunded in a few days. One month only after its exit, the film already brought back an about sixty million dollars. With the current of August, the Teeth of the sea is the first film of the history of the cinema to exceed the course symbolic system of the 100 million dollars of receipts in the United States. At the beginning of September, it approaches the 125 million dollars in the United States. It will finish its career with 260 million dollars on the US market and 210 million in the rest of the world, even in the 7th place if account of inflation is taken.

N°1 with the world boxoffice of 1975, the film will be détrôné only in 1977 by the Star Wars of George Lucas. Since, it was largely beaten by Titanic of James Cameron, n°1 current of the historical world boxoffice with exceptional receipts reaching 1.845 million dollars, that is to say almost four times higher than those which the film of Spielberg had collected 22 years earlier ( to also see the appendix ).

This said, by taking account of inflation, the Teeth of the sea remains a film with the impressive boxoffice since placing itself in 7th position in the United States behind Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939), the Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), the Melody of happiness (Robert Wise, 1965), E.T extraterrestrial the (Steven Spielberg, 1982), the Ten Commands (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956) and Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).

For Universal, the studio which produced film, it acts of 5th film having brought back the most receipts to him to the United States, even 2nd behind E.T extraterrestrial the of same Spielberg if account of inflation is taken.

For Steven Spielberg, the Teeth of the sea is a great success on the commercial plan after the failure of its first film, Sugarland Express , which with a budget of 3 million dollars had reported only 12,8 million dollars in the world. Until today, Steven Spielberg however king of the boxoffice, did not carry out 6 films which exceeded the receipts of the Teeth of the sea, of which 4 are dissociated particularly: the War of the worlds (2005, $591,745,532 of world receipts), Le Monde lost: Jurassic Park (1997, $618,638,999 of world receipts), E.T extraterrestrial the (1982, $792,910,554 of world receipts) and Jurassic Park (1993, $914,691,118 of world receipts). Still today, the Teeth of the sea accounts for 7,5% of the 3,447 billion dollars collected on the American territory by films carried out by Steven Spielberg ( to also see the appendix ).

Except the United States, the film carried out 45% of its receipts, with in particular 6,2 million entries in France, which constitutes the 4th best result of the realizer in this country behind E.T extraterrestrial the (7,8 million entries), Jurassic Park (6,5 million entries) and the adventurers of the lost arch (6,4 million entries). Germany entered 5,8 million spectators for this film, while Sweden counted 1,3 of them million.

Compared with other films treating of the topic of the sharks with the cinema, the boxoffice places the Teeth of the sea in front of Gang of sharks (Eric Bergeron, Vicky Jenson and Rob Letterman, 2004, $363,530,196 of world receipts), Blue Peur (Renny Harlin, 1999, $164,648,142 of world receipts) or Open Toilets: Out of deep water (Chris Kentis, 2003, $53,686,170 of world receipts).

In October 2006, the series “Teeth of the sea”, composed of the films the Teeth of the sea , Teeth of sea 2 , Teeth of sea 3 and Teeth of sea 4: revenge , is with 404 million dollars, the 22e frankness in terms from receipts collected on the North-American territory, 1st being the Star Wars , which with 6 films, add up nearly 1.883 million dollars of US receipts.

Reception of film

Criticisms

On the whole, the film accepted favorable criticisms. In her original review, published in the Chicago Sun-Times , the famous film critic American Roger Ebert said film which it was “a particularly effective action film, an alarming thriller which functions of as much better than the characters are humanized”. In the columns of the magazine Variety , A.D. Murphy praised qualities of realizer of Steven Spielberg and qualified “absolutely splendid” interpretation of Robert Shaw. At the beginning of November 1976, in The New Yorker , Pauline Kael wrote that it was about “film of horror joyeusement perverse never carried out”.

Of course, on the other hand, of criticisms negative were published, in particular that of Vincent Canby in The NewYork Times which wrote that “such as film is built, it is difficult to have the least compassion towards the victims of the shark… In best films, the characters reveal with the spectator their depth, their true nature, as the action progresses. In films like the Teeth of the sea , the characters are only dependant on the action. They are with its service”.

In the Los Angeles Times , the film critic Charles Champlin disputes the classification of film in the category PG (for “ P arental G uidance suggested”, parental accompaniment recommended) with the reason that not only the film is “too alarming for young children, but is even likely to turn over the stomach of people of any age”.

Generally, the most widespread criticism related to the artificial side of the false shark, although appearing only in a furtive way towards the end of film.

In France, in 2001, in their book Steven Spielberg , Julien Dupuy, Laure Gontier and Wilfried Benon speak about “the fight of the sea against the ground, of a fight of any eternity”. In an article on the Hollywood films catastrophes, Pierre Baudry insisted on two elements: the scenic machinery of film, for example “Bruce” the false shark, become the genuine star with the detriment of the actors and the employment of a crowd of observers only intended to react to him. In that, it echoes the article of Vincent Canby in The NewYork Times and since the advent of the Blockbuster S, whose Teeth of the sea the fashion will launch, this criticism is often made for the films with large American budget, which privilege the special action and effects with the detriment of the play of the actors and the scenario, so as to reduce the financial risk of productions increasingly more expensive.

A posteriori , the film will as much be proposed by criticisms for its “precursory” side that for its side “bad example” having given rise to effective films commercially but not very ambitious on the plan artistic.

Rewards

At the time of the 48 {{E}} ceremony of the Oscars, the Teeth of the sea was seen allotting 3 Oscars: better assembly, better film music and better sound. The film was also nominated in the category better film, although Steven Spielberg is not correlatively proposed in the category better realizer, but this category will be finally gained by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , the big winner of this ceremony with 5 Oscars for 9 nominations.

Steven Spielberg will do better with E.T extraterrestrial the and the Adventurers of the lost arch (9 nominations, 4 Oscars), It is necessary to save the soldier Ryan (11 nominations, 5 Oscars) and especially with the List of Schindler (12 nominations, 7 Oscars), which will be worth to him at 47 years, well after that of the public, the recognition of his pars. It is only with this feature film that it will gain finally the Oscar of best film and the best realizer, after being satisfied to collect, during a score of years, “technical” Oscars (assembly, its, effects visual, decorations etc). On the other hand, to date, none the actors or actresses whom it directed obtained from Oscars ( to also see the appendix ).

Concerning the original music of film composed by John Williams, in addition to the Oscar obtained, it was also rewarded by a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award.

Teeth of the sea figure invariably in the list of 250 best films established by the Net surfers attending Internet Movie Database (around place 80) and around the 20th place of best films according to the users of Box Office Mojo. It also appears in several classifications of the American Film Institute (AFI), in particular in most important, that of the 100 better films ( AFI' S 100 Years… 100 Movies ), where it points with the 48e place. It is also well placed in 4 other lists of the AFI, more specific, by granting the 2nd place of the 100 better thrillers of the history of the cinema ( AFI' S 100 Years… 100 Thrills ), the 18th place of the 100 best heroes and malicious of the cinema ( AFI' S 100 Years… 100 Heroes and Unpleasant ) for “Bruce”, the false shark of film, the 6th place of the 100 better film original musics ( AFI' S 100 Years off Film Scores ), for the original soundtrack composed by John Williams and finally the 35e place of the better 100 quotations ( AFI' S 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes ) with the counterpart “You' Re gonna need has bigger boat” (“we would need a larger boat”).

Since 1989, the National Film Safeguarding Board selects approximately 25 films per annum, at least left ten years before on the screens, for a perennial conservation with the Bibliothèque of the Congress. All the selected films are it according to their “cultural, historical or esthetic importance” and make then parties of the National Film Registry. In 2001, the Teeth of the sea was retained, in same title as of other major films such as the Planet of the monkeys (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968), Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979) or the Melody of happiness (Robert Wise, 1965). In 2004, the National Registry Film counted, in addition to the Teeth of the sea , four other films of 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest of Milos Forman, Nashville of Robert Altman, The Rocky Horror Picture Show of Jim Sharman and The Buffalo Creek Flood: Year Act off Man of Mimi Pickering.

Sources of inspiration and influences

Loans with former works

the Teeth of the sea comprises certain similarities with other artistic works, the first of which figure Moby Dick of Hermann Melville, celebrates Romance American initially published in 1851. The character of Quint resembles thus extremely Achab, the captain of the whaler the Pequod , which continues without slackening Moby Dick the white cachalot.

Quint will track to him also the shark with eagerness. Several elements thus reveal its personal vendetta against the sharks, such its long monolog or its boat, the Orca (the Orque ), thus named according to the only enemy of the sharks in the animal kingdom.

In the novel of Peter Benchley like in the original screenplay of film, Quint dies grabbed by the depths of the ocean after having had the leg caught by a line of harpoon, just like it is the case for the Achab captain in the novel of Hermann Melville.

A reference even more direct can be found in the original screenplay, of sequences 135 to 139, where Quint looks in a cinema Moby Dick , the adaptation of the novel realized in 1956 by John Huston and in which the Achab captain is interpreted by Gregory Peck. During projection, Quint laughs with throat deployed without worrying about the other spectators who rise and leave the room ( to also see the appendix ).

Gregory Peck which had the rights of film, refused the use of extracts of this one in the Teeth of the sea , the sequences previously quoted were thus never turned.

Lastly, the final scenes of film of Spielberg where the men try to harpoon the shark with floating barrels establish last a parallel with the novel of Melville.

During the first part of film, Martin Brody tests, and fails, to convince the authorities of the city of the arrival of a shark on the beaches of Amity Island, in particular at the time of a public meeting. In that, the film resembles much the play In folkefiende ( an enemy of the people , 1882) of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In this one, Dr. Thomas Stockmann is doctor of a thermal spa recently created and managed by his brother Peter Stockmann, mayor of the city. The doctor, who enjoys a comfortable situation, discovers that water, coming from a food located too low, is poisoned by the pestilential marshes of the valley. Filled with enthusiasm by its salutary discovery, he claims to publish the facts which will ruin the station temporarily. Then burst a conflict between the public interest and a random local prosperity. A public meeting, where he wanted to make shout the truth, Stockmann leaves condemned like “enemy the people”.

Some critical also perceived the influence of two other old American films of Science-fiction - horror, the Strange creature of the black lake ( The Creature from the Black Lagoon , Jack Arnold, 1954), in particular for the treatment by Spielberg of died of Chrissy Watkins by a shark at the beginning of the " Teeth of the mer" , and The Monster That Challenged the World (Arnold Laven, 1957).
. A rather obvious loan, the scene-shock where intervenes a decapitated head directly refers to a plan of the same kind in a film on the rather similar subject, the Birds (1963), of Alfred Hitchcock.

The radiation of film on posterior works

the Teeth of the sea was quoted directly or indirectly in several films. In 1979, Steven Spielberg car-parody in 1941, the scene of opening of film is thus very close to that imitated: an young woman approaches water, removes her clothing and bathes naked. Follows a parody of the Dents of the sea , except that in the place of the shark, it is a submarine which emerges and which the aileron is replaced by a periscope to which the young woman clutches herself. In 1980, does the parodic film Y have a pilot on the aircraft? of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, begins with the music from the Dents from the sea before an aileron of plane bores the clouds while moving towards the spectator.

In 1994, in Clerks, the model employees of Kevin Smith, is quoted celebrates it counterpart of the Dents of the sea “We' Re gonna need has bigger boat! ”. One year later, the same realizer again refers to film in Glandeurs where the heroes bear the names of “Quint” and “Bodie Bruce”, “Bruce” being the nickname of the false mechanical shark of the Dents of the sea , and where a sequence of film proposes a reconstitution of the scene of comparison of the scars, although in this case based on the sexual adventures of its protagonists. In 2004, the cartoon film Gang of sharks , produced by Steven Spielberg via DreamWorks SKG, begin with a parody from the Dents from the sea with a worm from ground in the place from the victim and an inoffensive shark instead of the shark killer.

But the most famous parody remains certainly that appearing in Retour towards future II (1989) of Robert Zemeckis, whose Associate producer is not other than Steven Spielberg. In the account, the doctor Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) challenges, in 1985 with Hill Valley, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), on misdeeds intervening in his future. “Doc.” known as to return the year 2015, where it would arrive misfortune to the children that Marty will have with his/her current friend and future woman, Jennifer Parker (Elisabeth Shue). It thus invites it to follow it in the future, in 2015 consequently, in the imaginary city of Hill Valley. Arrived on the spot, Marty McFly recognizes the place of the town hall, but under one day completely new. On a cinema, he sees a poster of Jaws 19 ( Teeth of the sea 19 ). The shark being reproduced on the poster passes from an image 2D to a holographic image in 3D, is detached some and approaches the hero dangerously, making mine devour it, thus causing incredulity and terror at Marty McFly. It should be noted that the poster announces the slogan “This time it' S really really personal”, in reference to the fourth episode of the " Teeth of the mer" whose slogan was “This time it' S personal” (“this time, it personal”, is implied “this time, it (the Requin) makes a personal deal of it”). Second wink of the passage, the film Jaws 19 is supposed being carried out by certain a max Spielberg. However Steven Spielberg has indeed a son named max , born into 1985 from a first marriage with the American actress Amy Irving (before divorcing it in 1989).

The film was also adapted in noncinematographic forms, whose Jaws , play left in 1987, published by LJN and functioning on the platform BORN, inspired by the frankness from the Teeth of the sea, it rests especially on the 4th shutter of the series, the Teeth of sea 4: revenge . In October 2006, left to France a video game to the new scenario but nearer the spirit to film Steven Spielberg, entitled Jaws Unleashed . Available on PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, developed by Appaloosa Interactive and distributed by Majesco Entertainment, this video game was noted 7,4/10 by IGN ( www.ign.com ), 3,8/10 by GameSpot ( www.gamespot.com ) and 1,5/5 by Official PlayStation Magazine ( http://opm.1up.com ). Lastly, a musical comedy on the topic of the " Teeth of the mer" was creates in 2006; Giant Killer Shark : Musical The , and was presented for the first time to the public from July 7th to 16th 2006 to the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse located at Toronto, at the time of the Toronto Fringe Festival .

Beyond film

Continuations

detailed Article : Comparison between the Teeth of the sea and the other shutters of the saga

Three years after the original episode, John D. Hancock was to carry out the continuation before it is returned by the producer Richard D. Zanuck. Finally, it is Jeannot Szwarc which will be given the responsability to carry out film for the account of Universal Pictures, which will remain besides the single distributer for the whole of films of the quadrilogy. In the Teeth of sea 2 , Roy To cob, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton include their role of initial film and Carl Gottlieb continuous Co-to write the scenario.

Then in 1983, the Teeth of sea 3 was carried out in 3D, format then popular at the time. Its original title is besides Jaws 3D , which will on television transform into Jaws 3 at the time of the passages or into VHS and DVD, the effect 3D not being transposed on these formats. In 1983, Joe Alves had already worked with Steven Spielberg in 1974 on Sugarland Express and in 1975 on the Teeth of the sea and he will work again with him in 1977 on Rencontres of the third type . The scenario is once again Co-writing by Carl Gottlieb, this time helped of Richard Matheson, the man who had signed before the scenario of the film Duel of Spielberg. The casting of this third grinding included Dennis Quaid (Michael Brody), Bess Armstrong (Kathryn Morgan, alias Kay), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Calvin Bouchard), Simon MacCorkindale (Philip FitzRoyce), John Putch (Sean Brody) and Lea Thompson (Kelly Ass Bokowski).

Lastly, in 1987 leaves on the screens the Teeth sea 4: revenge realized by Joseph Sargent. At 62 years, the director of this episode is a productive man although unknown general public, and due, except for this film, it will realize almost exclusively only for American television.

The film signs the return of Lorraine Gary within the quadrilogy. Casting also included Lance Guest (Michael Brody), Mario Van Peebles (Jake), Michael Caine (Hoagie Newcombe), Karen Young (Carla Brody), Judith Barsi (Thea Brody) and Mitchell Anderson (Sean Brody). Regarded as the worst shutter of the series, it appears in the first 50 places of the list of 100 worse films of the history of the cinema established by the readers of Internet Movie Database. In 1988, Lorraine Gary even nominated with very little was envied the Razzie Awards, against-rewards parodying the Oscars. The actress had been proposed in the category “worse actress”, who “was finally gained” by Madonna for Who' S That Girl .

Profiting from a launching of importance and whereas the three continuations made important profits with the box office., the Teeth of sea 2 and 3 appear even at the time of their respective year of exit in signal 20 of films having paid the most money, criticisms and the general public is as a whole shown reserved on the interest of these continuations. The opinions on films show that artistic quality did not cease degrading film films, as well as the receipts reducing itself with each new episode of the series

Progressively of the episodes of the saga, the attacks of sharks become increasingly incredible. In this field, the Teeth of sea 2 holds a record with 11 attacks for 8 dead. In the same way, there is higher bid in the way in which the shark is killed in the final confrontation, sometimes curling the unimaginable one, even grotesque, according to some critical ones.

On a world level, the saga of the Dents of the sea brought back 404 million dollars. As comparison, the series made up of 4 films having collected the most money is the Lethal weapon with 487 million dollars of world receipts. However, with 1.882 million dollars of world receipts, the Star Wars is queen of the boxoffice in this field, but by entering 6 films.

Editions DVD

the Teeth of the sea knew several video editions, intended as well for the market of the private individuals as to that of the professionals. The feature film initially left in VHS, then was adapted to the format Laserdisc, before being launched these last years in DVD.

In 2000, an edition “25e birthday” sees the day, followed in 2005 by a version “30e birthday” ( to also see the appendix ).

According to Internet Movie Database, the market of the hiring of film would have brought back $129,550,000, in the only United States.

The supplements include/understand enter others:

• the removed or cut scenes, of which some are even not calibrated falls. One discovers there in particular two sequences not appearing in the final assembly: that where fishermen of Sunday leave to hunting to the shark and face rather violently to seize the skin of the squale, as that where Quint goes in a store of music, to buy the famous cords of piano there that only the large white shark can devour and benefits from it to vocally accompany a young boy interpreting the Hymne with the Joy with the Clarinette.

• documentary envisaged for television, in “direct” of the film set, where the Spielberg young person explains his manner of working with the actors.

• Of the sights of the Scénarimage realized by Tom Wright according to the first versions of the scenario. One can thus discover an alternative of the credits, death of the bather Chrissie Watkins and the Kintner young person, two versions of the scene of the cage and final confrontation, initially very near to the end of Moby Dick .

• Of many photographs of turning, colors or black and white, shows the engineering team, the realizer, the actors, working or having fun, of the images of turning with truths sharks in Australia and finally, John Williams directing the orchestra during the recording of the original soundtrack.

• On the version zone 1, it is presented some examples of advertizing material (posters, photographs of exploitation) and various other derived objects (badges, caps…). One can also see some photographs of exploitation come from other countries, as well as a series of covers of books and magazines.

Beyond this material, the great interest of the DVD remains the documentary one of Laurent Bouzereau, appearing in integrality in the version “30 E birthday” (approximately 2 hours) and truncated in the version “25e birthday” (approximately 50 minutes).

Laurent Bouzereau, born in 1962, is a French scenario writer who specialized in the production and the realization of Making off popular film, for supplements DVD ( the Bridge of the river Kwaï , Taxi Driver , Scarface , the Crime of the East-Express train etc). And in this field already specialized in oneself, it more particularly concentrated on the making off of films of Steven Spielberg ( Rencontres of the third type , 1941 , E.T extraterrestrial the , the Color crimson , the Terminal etc).

Documentary, the inevitably promotional one, gives to the word to the realizer, with the producers, actors, technicians. All entrust anecdotes of turnings going from the writing of the scenario, with the direction of actors, the turning of scenes after the first private projections or finally, relating to the engineering problems of the false mechanized shark.

Shark killer: myth and reality

detailed Article : Confrontation with the reality of the image of the shark killer of the Teeth of the sea

According to data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and International Shark Attack Slips by (ISAF), in the United States, of 1990 to 1999, there was on average with 15 deaths per annum related to the snakes and 0,4 on attacks of shark. In other words, over this 10 years period, the probability was 37,5 times more important to die of a bite of snake than of that of a shark. And according to studies of the U.S. Department off Transportation, the Cervidé S are the cause of 325 times more accidents fatal than the sharks), percentage which can drop for other species.

This being known as, that by no means prevents with the shark from trailing a bad reputation, and this good before the film of Spielberg did not leave. Thus as of the Moyen-âge, one could read in this connection that:

This fish eats the others, it is very goulu, it devours the whole men, as one known by experiment; because in Nice and Marseilles one formerly took Lamie S, in the stomach of which one found man armed whole| Guillaume Rondelet, Of piscibus marinis, libri XVIII, in quibus veræ piscium effigies expressæ sunt ( whole history of the fish ), Lyon, 1554.

These last decades, the scientific knowledge of the progressing animal, its image changed and it is perceived more and more as attacked that like attacker. Indeed, whereas these fifteen last years the sharks killed on average 1,5 person per annum in the world, it is per thousands that one counts the number of sharks killed by the man.

If the morphology of the shark presented in film is plausible although limiting, the character of Quint giving a report on a shark of 7 meters and 3 tons, the psychology of the animal is on the other hand false. So indeed the shark can prove to be a relentless machine to be killed, via for example the technique of the breaching, it is false to say that it attacks in a deliberated way the man.

In the Teeth of the sea , the shark tackles 7 times and makes 6 victims over one period of a few days (in the order: Chrissie Watkins, black Labrador, Alex Mr. Kintner, Ben Gardner, a man on a boat and Quint). However only one real case of this type was reported: attacks of one or more sharks perpetrated in 1916 along the coasts of the New Jersey, on a distance of approximately 14 km and over one 12 days period. Indeed, between 1st and on July 12th, 1916, 4 people died after being attacked in Beach Haven, Spring Lake and Matawan Creek (Charles Vansant-25 years, Charles Bruder-28 years, Lester Stillwell-11 years and Stanley Fisher), while a last person survived, although amputated by the left leg (Joseph Dunn-12 years). Exaggerated for the needs for the dramaturgy, the facts reported in film could thus nevertheless take place, even if this single case of the New Jersey could not be generalized.

An element remains nevertheless indisputable, the large white shark (or Carcharodon carcharias ) is well most dangerous of the sharks with 34% of the attacks indexed in the world since 1580. Thus on the 1.190 attacks having implied 35 species of sharks, the large white responsible with him only for 224 attacks not caused (18,8% of the total) driving with died of 63 people (5,3% of the total).

Anecdotes

detailed Article : Anecdotes of turning of the Teeth of the sea

The principal anecdotes concern:

• the actors who initially were approximate for the main roles:

• the three false sharks automats used during turning. It is actually about Animatronique S in Polyuréthane, costing each one around $175,000. Measuring more than eight meters and weighing a ton and half, they were carried out by Robert A. Mattey, the creator of the octopus of 20.000 miles under the seas (Richard Fleischer, 1954).
• turning with Dangerous Reef in South Australia of the scenes with truths sharks. Realized by the animalist photographers Ron and Valerie Taylor, the catches of sights must be included at the end of film, when Matt Hooper goes down under sea protected by its cage anti-shark. The monster of film of Spielberg being supposed to measure 7 meters, the producer Richard D. Zanuck proposes to put a dwarf in a small cage anti-shark, so as to give the illusion of large a squale. The actor who will be retained calls Carl Rizzo and 1,45m measurement.
• the poster of film (initially used for the book), which largely contributed to its success, is the work of the artist Roger Kastel.
• has 1:32 m09s one can see appearing behind the chief Brody, a flying machine; a shooting star? a plane? a Satellite? or Super-Man?

To deepen

Appendices

• Appendix n°1:

• Appendix n°2:

• Appendix n°3:

• Appendix n°4:

• Appendix n°5:

• Appendix n°6:

• Appendix n°7:

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