‘Jaws@ 50’ doc goes behind the scenes of classic shark flick

It was inevitable there would be multiple th anniversary celebrations of Steven Spielberg s monster hit Jaws But the one documentary that has Spielberg on camera is National Geographic s JAWS The Definitive Inside Story which streams Friday on Hulu and Disney There have been so several documentaries books and all there was a sense we really needed to reinvent the story a bit director Laurent Bouzereau declared in a Zoom interview I decided to focus on the human experience that was the making of Jaws The human factor we readily see is what makes Jaws so special what makes Jaws Jaws if you will Who knew only eight roles were played by professional actors All the others were locals recruited for the filming I was surprised Bouzereau allowed adding that when he came to Martha s Vineyard the island headquarters for the production the impact that the film had on that neighborhood and continues to have is almost surreal They still talk about it grandparents their children and their grandchildren They re all influenced by it in a way that s extremely moving and at the same time kind of arresting Because you feel that Jaws in a way belongs to them It was a really inspired thing Because Jaws was the first major Hollywood production to authentically film on water those locals were essential to its authenticity Had the movie been made by Alfred Hitchcock years earlier Bouzereau reckoned it would have just been another movie that would be made on the backlot with rear-view projection and a studio sensibility But of syllabus Steven wished to do a Hitchcock movie but definitely be on the beach or in the water Hitchcock would have never been caught dead on the beach For Spielberg Jaws became a trial by fire As the budget added another million and filming relentlessly continued those problems became national news Rumors spread that Spielberg was going to be fired replaced We do see in the doc s the greater part surprising and shocking revelation Spielberg talk about the PTSD he suffered months after the film achieved blockbuster status He talks about waking in the middle of the night shaking and crying He s haunted I have to say that even though I ve known Steven over years Bouzereau noted I absolutely underestimated that aspect Because we take it for granted the film is a huge success What do you have to cry about For Steven to talk about that experience I thought was very courageous That really reminded me of his humanity and his vulnerability in telling the story of the making of Jaws As Spielberg himself sums it up This is the movie I thought would end my career and instead it gave me my career JAWS The Definitive Inside Story streams Friday on Hulu and Disney Steven Spielberg director of Jaws and director Laurent Bouzereau are pictured during an interview for National Geographic s Jaws The Definitive Inside Story Photo National Geographic Chris Johnson