The Jaws Book
New Perspectives on the Classic Summer Blockbuster
Published on 17. September 2020
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-5013-4752-8 (ISBN)
Description
After 45 years, Steven Spielberg's Jaws remains the definitive summer blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon with a fierce and dedicated fan base. The Jaws Book: New Perspectives on the Classic Summer Blockbuster is an exciting illustrated collection of new critical essays that offers the first detailed and comprehensive overview of the film's significant place in cinema history. Bringing together established and young scholars, the book includes contributions from leading international writers on popular cinema including Murray Pomerance, Peter Kraemer, Sheldon Hall, Nigel Morris and Linda Ruth Williams, and covers such diverse topics as the film's release, reception and canonicity; its representation of masculinity and children; the use of landscape and the ocean; its status as a western; sequels and fan-edits; and its galvanizing impact on the horror film, action movie and contemporary Hollywood itself.
Reviews / Votes
An excellent variety of fascinating readings about a surprisingly complex film of the 1970s. The range of approaches is stimulating, accessible, and superbly thought out. Each essay increases our knowledge of Jaws from a variety of perspectives and heightens our understanding of the film. * Robert P. Kolker, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Maryland, USA * The Jaws Book is rich, insightful and comprehensive. It revisits this landmark film from an extremely wide range of perspectives, covering production, film style, genre, representation and reception. As a consequence, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of American popular cinema, as well as the impact and legacy of this enduring, ever-popular film * Kate Egan, Senior Lecturer in Film and Media, Northumbria University, UK * 45 years after its release, Steven Spielberg's Jaws continues to endlessly fascinate and function as a cornerstone for contemporary popular culture. Hunter and Melia's collection brings together an impressive group of scholars, who deftly debate and analyse Jaws in a series of original, insightful and highly readable essays. Distinguishing fact from myth, and scrutinizing details pertaining to its production, textual organisation and reception, The Jaws Book offers genuinely new perspectives on why the film continues to resonate. No doubt, it will appeal to everyone interested in the film, its director and the industrial, cultural and political cultures that produced it. * Yannis Tzioumakis, Reader in Film and Media Industries, University of Liverpool, UK * This is a terrific collection of essays that genuinely brings new insight, and with a foreword provided by Jaws' screenwriter and supporting actor Carl Gottlieb himself, The Jaws Book is highly recommended for any fan of Jaws, or for anyone with even a passing interest in this crucial moment in film history. * Cinema Retro Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
29 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
580 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5013-4752-8 (9781501347528)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€35.49
Available for download
Persons
I.Q. Hunter is Professor of Film Studies at De Montfort University, UK, and the author of British Trash Cinema (2013), Cult Film as a Guide to Life (2016), editor of British Science Fiction Cinema (1999) and co-editor of British Comedy Cinema (2012) and The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History (2016).
Matthew Melia is a Senior Lecturer in film and television at Kingston University, UK. His research interests include the work of Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg.
Matthew Melia is a Senior Lecturer in film and television at Kingston University, UK. His research interests include the work of Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg.
Content
List of illustrations
Notes on contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Carl Gottlieb (Screenwriter of Jaws)
Introduction
I.Q. Hunter (De Montfort University, UK) and Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part One: Production, Reception and Style
1. 'She Was the First': The Place of Jaws in American Film History
Peter Kraemer (De Montfort University, UK)
2. Not the First: Myths of Jaws
Sheldon Hall (Sheffield Hallam University, UK)
3. Cutting to the Chase: Editing Jaws
Warren Buckland (Oxford Brookes University, UK)
4. 'The Shark is Not Working' - But the Music Is: Scoring a Hit with Jaws
Emilio Audissino (University of Southampton, UK)
5. In the Teeth of Criticism: Forty-Five Years of Jaws
Nigel Morris (University of Lincoln, UK)
6. Jaws, in Theory
Murray Pomerance (Independent scholar, Canada)
Part Two: Interpretation
7. Jaws as Jewish
Nathan Abrams (Bangor University, UK)
8. Children as Bait
Linda Ruth Williams (Exeter University, UK)
9. Reflexive Epistemology in Jaws and Jurassic Park
Robert Geal (University of Wolverhampton, UK)
10. 'We Delivered the Bomb': On Jaws, Guilt, and the Atomic Myth
Matthew Leggatt (University of Winchester, UK)
11. The Way Home: Shifting Perspectives in Jaws
Daniel Varndell (University of Winchester, UK)
12. Relocating the Western in Jaws
Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part Three: Beyond Jaws
13. 'Just When You Thought It Was Safe...': The Jaws Sequels
Kathleen Loock (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany)
14. Martha's Vineyard Revisited: The Making-Ofs and Their Narrative Strategies
Felix Lempp (University of Hamburg, Germany)
15. Ben Gardner's Head is Missing: Notes on Jaws: The Sharksploitation Edit
Neil Jackson (University of Lincoln, UK)
16. Live Every Week Like It's Shark Week: Jaws and Natural History Documentary
Vincent Campbell (University of Leicester, UK)
Index
Notes on contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Carl Gottlieb (Screenwriter of Jaws)
Introduction
I.Q. Hunter (De Montfort University, UK) and Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part One: Production, Reception and Style
1. 'She Was the First': The Place of Jaws in American Film History
Peter Kraemer (De Montfort University, UK)
2. Not the First: Myths of Jaws
Sheldon Hall (Sheffield Hallam University, UK)
3. Cutting to the Chase: Editing Jaws
Warren Buckland (Oxford Brookes University, UK)
4. 'The Shark is Not Working' - But the Music Is: Scoring a Hit with Jaws
Emilio Audissino (University of Southampton, UK)
5. In the Teeth of Criticism: Forty-Five Years of Jaws
Nigel Morris (University of Lincoln, UK)
6. Jaws, in Theory
Murray Pomerance (Independent scholar, Canada)
Part Two: Interpretation
7. Jaws as Jewish
Nathan Abrams (Bangor University, UK)
8. Children as Bait
Linda Ruth Williams (Exeter University, UK)
9. Reflexive Epistemology in Jaws and Jurassic Park
Robert Geal (University of Wolverhampton, UK)
10. 'We Delivered the Bomb': On Jaws, Guilt, and the Atomic Myth
Matthew Leggatt (University of Winchester, UK)
11. The Way Home: Shifting Perspectives in Jaws
Daniel Varndell (University of Winchester, UK)
12. Relocating the Western in Jaws
Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part Three: Beyond Jaws
13. 'Just When You Thought It Was Safe...': The Jaws Sequels
Kathleen Loock (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany)
14. Martha's Vineyard Revisited: The Making-Ofs and Their Narrative Strategies
Felix Lempp (University of Hamburg, Germany)
15. Ben Gardner's Head is Missing: Notes on Jaws: The Sharksploitation Edit
Neil Jackson (University of Lincoln, UK)
16. Live Every Week Like It's Shark Week: Jaws and Natural History Documentary
Vincent Campbell (University of Leicester, UK)
Index