Jaws: Book Good; Movie Better
Written: Jun 02 '08 (Updated Jun 02 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Introduces Jaws. Brody and Quint's characters are unchanged from book to film.
Cons: Ellen & Hooper have an affair. The shark is not as monstrous in the book.
The Bottom Line: The book should be read while forgetting about the movie to truly experience the story as it first appeared to an unsuspecting public.
|
|
|
| swopedesign's Full Review: Peter Benchley - Jaws |
Jaws: Book Good; Movie Better
It is hard to write about a book that has been turned into a movie without comparing the two. Jaws is particularly difficult, because in my humble experience the book that has come first is usually better than the movie, and this maxim does not apply to Jaws.
Jaws is one of my favorite movies. So I had high hopes that the book would be better than the movie, if that was possible. I was hopeful that it was. What an exquisite book that would be! However, I found that the novel reads more like a first draft of the film than a finished, published novel.
This isn't to downplay Peter Benchley's accomplishment. It is not. Anyone who completes and publishes a novel has accomplished much more than millions of other people ever do. The odds are against them. So I want to be clear that this review is not to criticize Jaws the book as anything less than the best seller it was in the 1970s and the book that inspired a hell of a movie that turned out much better than anyone could ever have expected. Benchley it is to be commended for even conceiving of Jaws. Without the book, we would not have the movie.
The book pales in nearly every way when compared to the movie. The characters are vastly different than the characters in the book, except for Chief Brody and Quint. In both the book and the film, Chief Brody has the public's best interest at heart: closing the beaches and stopping the killing, and stopping the man-eating shark if possible. Brody is a straight shooter in both the novel and movie. I think it is hard for anyone to judge him in either; he does only what he feels is right for everyone involved to save lives, not for monetary gain.
Quint, like Brody, is essentially the same character in both the novel and the film. He is a well-seasoned fisherman who makes a living by fishing and charters. He is a rough character, without much to say, until later in the day when he has warmed up to speaking. Brody notices this in the book; the film has Quint only warming up to conversation during the nighttime scene at the table in the Orca. Quint becomes obsessed with killing the shark in both the film and the book, too, like Ahab in Moby Dick. Though the movie's plot digresses from the book, in both cases the audience is led to believe that Quint is the only man who can hunt down the shark because of his vocation and experience. In the film, however, Quint clearly has an obsession for killing sharks that is not present in the book.
Brody's wife, Ellen, on the other hand, is a thin character in the movie, more a fixture beside Brody to provide a means to give him children in the story. But she is neither shallow nor unlikable. In the book, however, she is unlikable on several levels. 1) She regrets becoming an islander and leaving the upstate material treasures behind to marry Brody. 2) She shallowly and selfishly seduces Matt Hooper, the fish expert, who has come to try to help stop, catch and kill the shark. She is not seduced by him; she seduces him to fill the void described in the first point. 3) She betrays Brody, the only honorable character in the book and film, by seducing Hooper. Though Brody suspects but cannot yet confirm Ellen's transgression, their lives can only be changed by her actions, undoubtedly when Brody finds out because, being a police officer, he has a tendency to search and find the truth, I think. In the novel, this thread is never successfully wrapped up, either. Ellen realizes at one point what she has in Brody, but by the end of the book Brody only suspects she has been unfaithful.
Matt Hooper is another unlikable character in the book. He represents that lost entitledness that Ellen regrets sacrificing to marry Brody. Benchley makes that clear. That's why Ellen chooses to seduce him; to see if she still fits into that crowd perhaps. At any rate, in the book, Hooper performs many of the same actions as he does in the movie, but his attitude is different. In the book, he succumbs to Ellen's sexual advances and also betrays Brody. Though it might seem that Hooper and Brody are friends, that can't be the case if Hooper allows himself to be seduced by his friend's wife, no matter how she is or her background. In the film, Hooper's character is considerably more noble. He seems consumed by his interest in sharks, not sex. Hooper and Brody also develop a friendship in the film, and after the shark's death, it is these two friends that have survived and are swimming back to land as the sun begins to set. He is one of the heroes. In the book, Hooper dies, deservedly so some would say.
Though Mayor Vaughan is unlikable in both the book and the film, he is motivated by greed and desperation in the book, not political gain as in the movie. In the novel, Mayor Vaughan is also a businessman who has borrowed from the Mob. They have refused payment in the past, but now order Vaughan to buy up as much real estate as he can around Amity while prices are low, so that they can be sold at the peak of the summer season for great profit. The monster shark, in this case, has not only made real estate prices fall, but also made real estate in Amity an unattractive purchase. So Vaughan is pressured by the Mob to open the beaches and ignore the shark problem so he can repay his debt. In the end, Vaughan loses everything and is moving from Amity. In the movie, however, none of this motivation is evident in Vaughan's character. He is apparently only acting to protect Amity and its economy, for without the summer dollars Amity businesses will not survive the coming winter. Though unlikable in both the film and the book for pressuring Brody to keep the beaches open, he is less likable in the book.
The book and film also diverge greatly in plot and suspense. Though the book is hailed as a superthriller on the cover, it cannot be honestly compared to the film. In the book, the shark is a means to an end, a nuisance that kills a few bathers, Quint, and Matt Hooper. The plot focuses, instead, on the relationships and motivations between the characters. This weakens the suspense with interludes such as Ellen and Hooper's tryst. The hunt for the shark does not propel the story along until the last third of the book when Brody, Hooper and Quint take to the sea in the Orca to kill the shark. This final third of the book, like the final third of the film, the most exciting and powerful part of the Jaws story.
In the movie, though, the shark is the star! Spielberg, the director, has said as much in interviews about the film. The shark is given his own haunting, masterful theme music -- a decision which cannot be dismissed, for without the Jaws theme, the shark's appearances would not be nearly as terrifying -- and he is made terrifyingly real as an image with a huge yawing mouth with row after row after row of razor-sharp triangular teeth. The Jaws theme predicts when the shark will strike in the film, heightening the suspense in those scenes. The audience cannot help but react. Since the book cannot use the same tool, the shark's appearances are considerably less terrifying. Benchley, though, does as good a job as any in making the shark as terrifying as possible, I think. Bloody visuals are hard to capture in words.
The shark is also made a greater monster in the film than in the book. Though the shark is estimated to be about 30 feet in the book, this number is only a number. It doesn't really make the shark monstrous, only big. In the film, the shark is made monstrous not only by its size but also for its strength. It tears apart a dock to which is chained a large roast as bait. It punches a hole in Ben Gardner's boat and kills him. It punches a hole in the Orca so the boat begins to sink. It drags three 55-gallon barrels below the surface. Quint has never had this happen before! More powerful yet is that the shark is able stay under for long periods of time even with the three barrels attached. Though barrels are also used in the book, only two barrels are used and the barrels are considerably smaller and therefore easier to submerge for that version of the shark.
It is unfortunate that Jaws the movie is so well made. It outclasses the book that spawned the shark that now dwells in our collective psyches. Despite its shortcomings, the book is still a page turner and hard to put down. Fans of the film are encouraged to read the book, but they should try to forget about the movie and read the book in an environment where the movie does not exist. After all, that's the way the book appeared and was read by millions.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
swopedesign
|
|
Member: Mike Swope
Location: Wichita, KS
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Graphic/web designer. Grew brother's retail tire business. Now managing a similar long-established business.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.