Weekend Read: Documentarian Laurent Bouzereau on JAWS @ 50

Spielberg's PTSD, "No Notes" perfect movies, Laurent's dream documentary subject, and more

In celebration of Jaws’ 50th anniversary and its re-release in IMAX this week, Sena Adjei and I sat down with the dazzling, genius documentarian Laurent Bouzereau, a close friend of Steven Spielberg, who earlier this summer released Jaws @ 50, the definitive Jaws making-of documentary.

Laurent’s past films include Faye, Five Came Back, and countless “Behind-the-Scenes” documentaries for films of directors like Spielberg, Hitchcock, and Brian De Palma.

For NO NOTES, Bouzereau discussed his “No Notes” perfect movie, how it felt to see Spielberg reveal his intense emotions about the making of Jaws, who his dream documentary subject is, and why it’s so critical to preserve film history.

The following interview has been edited and condensed:

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Sena Adjei
Laurent, what is a film you give absolutely no notes to—a perfect film for you?

Laurent Bouzereau
A perfect film with no notes is one you never question, no matter how outlandish or illogical. Aside from Jaws—Carrie, The Exorcist, or Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In Raiders, when the Ark opens, Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are tied to the post. The ghosts come out, and everyone else turns to dust—except them. Only their ropes turn to dust, not their clothes. I always wanted to know why. That’s no notes—you don’t question it.

End of Raiders

Schmear
What’s your favorite story about the making of Jaws?

Laurent Bouzereau
My favorite story about the making of Jaws would have to be from Steven’s perspective. The notion of PTSD from such a traumatic experience is something I underestimated. It’s easy to look at a great success, a phenomenon, a step in cinema, and say, “Who cares what happened on set?” But from a young director’s point of view, the realization that this could have been the end—though I’m sure it wouldn’t have been for him—puts Jaws into a human experience. It resembles the story itself: three guys trying to kill the shark, and a director trying to make it work. Their stories parallel each other, and that’s unique.

Steven Spielberg

Sena Adjei
What is your favorite non-Jaws Spielberg movie, and why?

Laurent Bouzereau
One is always tempted to say Schindler’s List, because with that film Steven became a humanist and made a difference in a way very few artists can. But the film that had the most impact on me, aside from Jaws, was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was so full of American culture—fast food, Coca-Cola, burgers. For a French kid who’d never seen any of that, it was a real hook. I became obsessed with everything American, and that truly came from watching Steven’s films.

Schmear
You made a wonderful John Williams documentary last year (Music by John Williams). What’s your favorite non-Jaws John Williams score?

Laurent Bouzereau
The Fury. It’s a 1978 Brian De Palma film, and the score is amazing. There’s a whole escape sequence with virtually no dialogue, just sound effects and music. It’s literally a symphony of movement and music—extraordinary.

John Williams and Spielberg

Sena Adjei
What’s your favorite scene in Jaws, if you had to pick just one?

Below? The answer to that question and so much more.

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