The shark comes up
fast behind the rowboat, advancing on its unsuspecting prey like a pantomime
villain. It’s probably nothing more than an ironic coincidence that the boat’s red hull and the yellow rope hanging down its side are the same as McDonald’s corporate colours. The unnamed victim (played by stuntman Ted Grossman) is tipped into
the water as the shark rams the boat.
The next shot shows Michael and his friends being capsized in the same manner. Subsequent shots that indicate the positioning of the two craft make it clear that there is no good reason – other than narrative necessity – why the Sailfish should have overturned. Two brief shots of the man and then Michael Brody surfacing and shaking their heads serve to link them as potential victims. The young boy appears to be looking directly into the camera – just as the earlier shots of bathers seemed to be breaking the fourth wall – but, in fact, the editing of the next two shots would suggest that Michael is directly witnessing the attack. We, however, see this not from his point of view at water level, but from above. As the rower desperately tries to find a purchase on the upturned hull of his boat, we get our first real view of the shark: a pale ghostly image of its snout and open jaws beneath the surface.
The image seems to fade just as the man is pulled under. The camera then cuts back to Michael Brody’s reaction, his dark eyes and open mouth conveying his terror. A contrasting perspective is provided in the next shot: we view the attack from the shore, where three young bikinied girls are sunbathing, the one closest to the camera inexplicably wearing a light pink sweater. They look towards the source of the screams with casual curiosity. The moment recalls the movie’s opening scene, when the frenzied attack on Chrissie is inter cut with shots of her would-be-date lying in the surf.
The next shot shows Michael and his friends being capsized in the same manner. Subsequent shots that indicate the positioning of the two craft make it clear that there is no good reason – other than narrative necessity – why the Sailfish should have overturned. Two brief shots of the man and then Michael Brody surfacing and shaking their heads serve to link them as potential victims. The young boy appears to be looking directly into the camera – just as the earlier shots of bathers seemed to be breaking the fourth wall – but, in fact, the editing of the next two shots would suggest that Michael is directly witnessing the attack. We, however, see this not from his point of view at water level, but from above. As the rower desperately tries to find a purchase on the upturned hull of his boat, we get our first real view of the shark: a pale ghostly image of its snout and open jaws beneath the surface.
The image seems to fade just as the man is pulled under. The camera then cuts back to Michael Brody’s reaction, his dark eyes and open mouth conveying his terror. A contrasting perspective is provided in the next shot: we view the attack from the shore, where three young bikinied girls are sunbathing, the one closest to the camera inexplicably wearing a light pink sweater. They look towards the source of the screams with casual curiosity. The moment recalls the movie’s opening scene, when the frenzied attack on Chrissie is inter cut with shots of her would-be-date lying in the surf.
