July 4th - Indianapolis Edition

It's the 4th of July, and in my world, that means that sometime today, I re-watch Jaws.

Originally, Jaws was a novel written by Peter Benchley (The Deep, The Island) and published in 1974. Benchley took the deep dive into everything having to do with sharks, combing through every bit of data available at the time about shark behavior in order to bring gritty realism to this masterpiece. Even after he wrote Jaws, Benchley continued his study of sharks, going on expeditions with scientists and filmmakers in order to expand knowledge of these amazing creatures. He became a conservationist, working with governments and nonprofit organizations to educate them on the plight of sharks being targeted for shark fin soup.

The 1975 film created a terror of sharks with its signature soundtrack written by composer John Williams (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Minority Report). The instant recognition of the signature first notes, "da-dum, da-dum!" are now indelibly linked in our collective psyche as a sign of unseen danger and a bloody end.

For me, though, this film brought what is arguably one of the best monologues in cinema history.

I can't imagine I've never waxed poetic about The Indianapolis speech, so I won't go into great detail here. I will, however, state that Robert Shaw's delivery and pacing on this monologue is an actor's education in character. The shock on Richard Dreyfuss' face as he realizes that Quint survived that horrific event is portrayed flawlessly, and sets up Quint's monologue beautifully.

For those unaware, the U.S.S. Indianapolis remains one of the worst and most horrifying recorded shark attack events in history. 

The Indianapolis was sunk in the Pacific ocean during World War II, and the crew fought to stay alive for the four days it took to rescue them. In that four days, they fought off starvation and the sharks who came in droves, drawn by the blood in the water from those dead and wounded in the sinking of the ship. You can see a memoir from one of the survivors here.

Happy 4th of July, y'all. And maybe, just for today, stay out of the water...