Hey guys, Ryan Martian here and today I am
going to be discussing a scene from a film
that was basically 2/3rds of my entire childhood
– and a large portion of my adult life as
well: the classic 'Jaws' by Steven Spielberg.
This is easily the film that I have watched
the most during my entire life. There were
times when my mother flat out said, “No,
you cannot rent that movie again. Especially
since you were afraid that sharks would come
through the shower head the other night.”
That is not an exaggeration, by the way. That
was a legitimate – albeit completely irrational
- thought that went through my little martian
head. The specific scene I am going to be
discussing is Quint's USS Indianapolis monologue,
brilliantly delivered by the late Robert Shaw.
It's important for many reasons – both on
camera and off camera wise – and I hope
to thoughtfully explain why.
As usual, there are major spoilers ahead but
I always want to give you guys a fair warning.
You have been warned.
First, a little background. It's been noted
that Robert Shaw had a pretty severe drinking
problem during the majority of the shoot.
Richard Dreyfuss – who plays Hooper – is
quoted as saying, “[Shaw] was a perfect
gentleman whenever he was sober. All he needed
was one drink and then he turned into a competitive
son-of-a-bitch.” Shaw – while intoxicated
– would frequently tease and humiliate Dreyfuss
and – as a result - their on set relationship
was fairly hostile. In a way, this was almost
a fortunate accident because it makes their
on screen relationship even more believable.
It's also important to note that Shaw attempted
to recite the monologue intoxicated – since
the characters in the film had been drinking
just prior to it. This version turned out
to be unusable so Shaw decided to act it out
sober the next day in direct contrast to both
his onscreen and offscreen habits. Finally,
the monologue itself went through many versions:
originally it was ¾ of a page written by
uncredited writer Howard Sackler. Then it
was expanded to almost 10 pages by Spielberg's
friend John Millius, but it was deemed to
be too long. Robert Shaw took it home himself,
reworked it with some of his own input, shortened
it to 5 pages and that is the version which
ended up on the screen. Alright, enough background,
onto the scene itself.
Right before the monologue, it's important
to remember our characters were drinking,
laughing and comparing scars; with Quint and
Hooper each trying to one up another in a
very playful manner and they seem to finally
be bonding a bit; not only their respective
characters but also Shaw and Dreyfuss in real
life. In fact, Spielberg wisely shot Quint
and Hooper sitting at the table, first at
complete opposite sides showing how far apart
the two characters – and actors – were
from each other up until this point. But slowly
- over the course of comparing their scars
– they come together and are soon occupying
the same frame, with the swinging lamp above
“spotlighting” their characters. They
are smiling and laughing; the two have finally
made a connection. This whole time, Chief
Brody is absent both physically and camera
wise: he is standing off to the side in the
dark and at one point looks at his old appendix
scar, realizing he has nothing to add. It
was a very important moment for both Quint
and Hooper – as well as Shaw and Dreyfuss
- and Spielberg knew exactly how to relate
this to the audience with some simple but
very effective camera work.
Brody notices a scar on Quint's arm and – while
smiling and basking in this lighthearted moment
– asks, “What's that one?” Quint informs
Brody it was a tattoo he had removed. After
a quick zinger by Hooper, we can see Quint's
mood has altered drastically and he tells
them it's the USS Indianapolis. At this point
Hooper's mood also does an abrupt 180 and
Quint appears to be already reliving the horror
all over again in his head. Brody innocently
and while still smiling asks, “What happened?”
Now I am going to link a clip for this scene
in the description. I don't want to go through
every line of the monologue; you really have
to watch it yourself and it's not really the
point of this analysis. What I do want to
discuss are the aspects of this scene – acting
and film making wise - that makes it so memorable
and frightening.
First and foremost we have Robert Shaw's subdued
and brilliantly nuanced performance. He conveys
the horrifying story perfectly with both his
words and facial expressions, alternating
between dead seriousness and some perfectly
placed “smirks.” I have always felt that
the goal of a great and successful story teller
is their ability to visually paint a picture
in the audience's head with only their words.
In this particular case, we also have the
added bonus of Shaw's visual acting to enhance
the story and make it more believable. He
knocks it out of the park; just like his old
friend Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. We
– as the audience – can picture everything
he says, without it distracting us from the
actual performance occurring on the screen.
Most importantly, we finally realize and understand
Quint's motivation and the reason behind his
hatred of sharks. War - in and of itself – can
be a fairly traumatic experience but when
you add fending off swarming sharks for over
a week into the equation, Quint has a form
of PTSD that altered his life forever and
steered it in a direction he may never have
thought was possible.
Next we have Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider
playing the perfect background characters.
Shaw's monologue and performance are what
we should be focusing on and the way they
act - and are shot by Spielberg – is a true
testament of restraint. They act is if Quint
is their grandfather telling an old war story;
they cannot take their eyes off him during
the entire scene.
Hooper is almost in a state of shock. At times
his mouth is literally hanging open. Spielberg
wisely kept him in most of the shots with
Quint, because it furthers the bond they just
experienced along with the humanization of
their characters. Hooper – the naive rich
boy who Quint cannot stop ragging on – knew
right away exactly what happened when Quint
mentioned the USS Indianapolis. It's important
to note, that Dreyfuss cannot take his eyes
off of Shaw while he recites the monologue.
Now this is probably mostly acting on his
part, but I believe there is a little more
to it. Even though him and Shaw couldn't stand
each other, Dreyfuss as a person – and also
a member of the audience at this point - realizes
a great performance is occurring right next
to him.
Conversely, Brody – the older and “wiser”
of the two – had to ask “What happened?”
He sinks further into the dark - both literally
and figuratively – as his fear of sharks
is reinforced even more so. This is accomplished
in a few ways: not only with the look of absolute
fear on his face and how his black shirt almost
melts into the darkness of the boat's cabin
surrounding him, but also with Quint staring
directly into Brody's eyes while telling the
story.
We also have the bone chilling score from
John Williams accompanying Quint as he recites
the monologue. His main Jaws theme is the
piece everyone justly and understandably remembers,
but this particular piece shows just how great
Williams is at perfectly capturing what is
happening on the screen through music. It's
mostly a few screeching violins played in
a very high register, along with some low
woodwinds to balance the violins out. It's
not loud and in your face as that would have
been completely inappropriate as well as a
distraction. It also starts about halfway
through Quint's monologue - perfectly fusing
at just the right moment – giving Shaw's
performance some time to breathe on it's own
before joining the already intense atmosphere.
It succeeds at adding that perfect extra pinch
of eeriness to the top of what is happening
visually on the screen without taking the
audience away from it.
The monologue and scene closes with a shot
focusing solely on Quint. Spielberg tastefully
uses a slow zoom to bring the audience closer
and closer to Shaw during his final words.
Brody and Hooper are no longer necessary at
this point, because this is all about Quint
and the absolute horror he experienced, which
changed his life forever. June the 29th, 1945.
As always guys, thanks for watching. I hope
you enjoyed this analysis and if you did,
drop a like or subscribe. Thanks again.
