I was going to share this with you the other day but wasn't able. Earlier in the week I checked out a doubled disced edition of 'Jaws' from our community libary. On one of the discs was an in depth documentary about the making of the film. At one point Richard Dreyfuss recounts how he had shown up post production at a studio to loop some dialogue and found the girl who played the first shark victim in the film lying back with her head UPSIDEDOWN and Steven Spielberg standing over her pouring water into her mouth and urging her to scream through it. This was done to create the horrific sounds the girl makes as she is yanked to a fro violently in the early morning surf by the shark below the water's surface. (Incidentally, this is what is being referred to in the original post). Dreyfuss said that it seemed like "an interesting way to spend an afternnon" for Spielberg but "not particularly comfortable" for the girl. I searched for that scene on youtube but couldn't find it. I want you to hear those sounds and think about this story. Really think about it. The gurglings and watery shrieks and gaspings that Spielberg summoned from that girl in the studio that day are truly horrifying and alarming and deeply disturbing. They are moreso in the context of that studio rather than the fictional shgark attack to my mind. This was Steven Spielberg who was pouring water into the shrieking, UPSIDEDOWN mouth of the original blonde shiksa who played the shark victim in the film. There is something unsettlingly unecessary about this. It makes me think about the 1970's and the transgressive coked up fun some of these culture brats no doubt indulged in. The undertone is there. From Depalma I could understand this sort of beastly shenanigans. But this is Steven Spielberg of 'E.T.' and 'Schindler's List' fame. It's, like, you know, what is underneath the sunny surface. And it's what we have now, you see.
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