Capturing a Golden Moment #13: Jaws

In this series I'd like to present some exceptional scenes inspired by cinema's most gifted artists of yesteryear.

Jaws (1975)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Scene: "The Indianapolis"

This scene with no action per se, is perhaps the film's most terrifying. The immensely talented Robert Shaw plays Quint, who recounts his experience aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis with the actor's customarily unique and intense delivery. The harrowing ordeal Quint describes is enhanced by one's awareness of the real-life incident itself and Shaw's reported authorship of his vivid account. Shaw, an accomplished playwright, submitted his own re-write of the scene after an uncredited John Milius' first draft sparked a disagreement between credited writers Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. The added realism is in part due to the clever way the moment is foreshadowed by suggesting Quint's subtle reluctance to remind himself of the horrific event. Director Spielberg deserves credit for securing such natural performances from all 3 actors (including Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss).    

Jaws is available on Blu-ray here:

Jaws [Blu-ray]

$11.99

Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Buy on Amazon

It is also available on DVD here:

Jaws

$3.74

Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Buy on Amazon