The Shark is Still Working
Directed by: Erik Hollander
Written by: James Gelet

There’s no two ways about it — Jaws is a landmark film in every sense of the word. It launched the career of the most famous director of all-time, provided the template for the summer blockbuster, and had such a profound cultural impact that to this day many people are still afraid to swim at beaches. Clearly if there is one movie that deserves to have its own feature-length retrospective documentary, it is Jaws.

Back in the mid-’90s, veteran documentarian Laurent Bouzereau put together a two-hour “Making Of” film that appeared on the Jaws laserdisc and 30th Anniversary DVD release. For years it had been the definitive source of information for fans of the movie — until four fans decided to make a comprehensive documentary of their own.

Erik Hollander’s The Shark is Still Working started as an independent project made by fans for fans, but eventually built so much momentum that it earned the involvement of Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg himself. Unfortunately, although the movie has been completed for a few years now, Universal still have not announced any solid plans to release it. In an effort to re-invigorate interest, the filmmakers are planning to hit the festival circuit with the film this year.

The screener I received was divided into two separate discs: The Impact of Jaws and The Legacy of Jaws. Now normally I’d say that if your documentary can’t fit on one disc, it might be a little too long. The current cut of the movie runs over 3 hours, and while I’m sure hardcore Jaws fans will cherish every second, it could benefit from some pruning in order to create something that feels more like a film and less like a bunch of featurettes tied together. That said, most people will simply be excited to have access to never-before-seen interviews and footage, and The Shark is Still Working has this in spades.

The first disc contains the meat and potatoes of the documentary, and is by far the most interesting stuff. Here we explore some of the typical stories surrounding Jaws (the troubled production, the unique marketing and box office success, the widespread fear of sharks that resulted) along with some new ones. While Jaws did keep a lot of people away from the water, it also attracted others to it. The movie kickstarted a nation-wide fascination with sharks, and invited more scientific study and better care for the animals. On the flip side, it did inspire an unfortunate wave of shark hunting with people renting a boat for a weekend, determined to “catch Jaws”. They also take some time to look at the various sequels and knock-offs that followed.

There are some great interviews here with pretty much everyone involved in the original movie, from Spielberg himself to Roy Scheider (who also narrates the film), Richard Dreyfuss, John Williams, Peter Benchley (in the last on-camera interview he did before his death), screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, production desiger Joe Alves, and producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown. In addition, there are plenty of respected filmmakers talking about their love of Jaws and how it has influenced them, from the usual suspects like Kevin Smith and Eli Roth to M. Night Shyamalan, Eduardo Sanchez, Robert Rodriguez and Bryan Singer.

The second disc gets into a lot of stuff that will probably be of more interest to hardcore fans than casual viewers. Starting with a segment on the 2005 Jawsfest at Martha’s Vineyard, it examines the extent of the Jaws fan community and the lasting appeal of the movie. There are some tidbits on how the movie changed (or didn’t change) Martha’s Vineyard, and some of the locals who landed small roles in the film at the time.

For the most part, The Shark is Still Working feels like an A&E special or something you’d see on TV. The production values are high, but there’s definitely not much style to it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can tell that it was made by fans, not because it looks amateurish (it doesn’t), but simply because it’s so thorough and determined to cover every last detail of this legendary film.

Overall, the movie contains a ton of new material and plenty of unique insight into virtually every facet of Jaws. Although it could stand to be a little tighter and better organized, it is still a movie that every self-respecting Jaws fan will want to get their hands on. Would I pay money for this as a standalone release? Absolutely. However, it also would make a great companion piece to a forthcoming Jaws Blu-ray release. Take note Universal: you’ve got a great tribute to a beloved film here. Keeping it from the fans would be a disservice to not only them, but also the legacy of this classic flick. — Sean

This review was originally posted on The Documentary Blog.

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