It may be small but Downham Market station is perfectly formed. There's a bar serving real ales, a café that can whip up a very tasty bacon sarnie and a waiting room where you can sit in a comfy arm chair and peruse the second hand books for sale. Today I left my book, iPad and Kindle at home; I was late and I blame the unscheduled baking of chocolate chip cookies at an unearthly hour. With a few minutes to spare I scanned the shelves looking for something to read on the way into London and I found this.
Jaws is one of the first films I remember watching, a true blockbuster and frightening enough to prevent me from heading into the sea for a swim the morning after I'd watched it.
This absolute gem of a book is written by Carl Gottlieb who tells the story of how this cinematic classic was made. Insights into the industry, the early career of Spielberg and some of the unthinkable obstacles faced on location are included, I have almost finished it already. Did you know the mechanical shark(s) were nicknamed Bruce by the crew, except when they were in shot and then they reverted to it/them as 'sonofabitch'?
It was the perfect book choice at 7am this morning. Look how old it is. Dog eared, yellowing pages and blurred illustrations. It looks well read and well loved. I'm going to drop it back at the station next week and I hope someone else picks it up.
So what's your favourite bit of the film?
'You're gonna need a bigger boat' is up there but for me it's the shot of Chief Brody, that Hitchcock zoom or Vertigo shot as he sits in his chair on the beach and then he sees it, something in the water. It's gripping.
This weekend I'm going to watch Jaws again with a fresh perspective and try my hardest not to jump when the head falls from the hole in the boat or the shark appears next to Brody when he's throwing chum into the water. I'll try but it's probably best if I'm not holding a glass of red at the time. It's almost 40 years since Jaws was made. Nice work Bruce.
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