Steven Spielberg Reveals He Was “Surprised” by ‘Jaws’ Oscar Snub

Jaws, the Steven Spielberg adventure thriller that revolutionized the film industry in the 1970s, is turning 50 years old. That’s five decades of numerous titles and recognitions for the Raiders of the Lost Ark director whose name is synonymous with successful forms of entertainment. But despite his early achievement with 1975’s Jaws, Spielberg had to earn his medals, and this included recognition from the Academy itself. Jaws was a huge commercial hit in the ’70s, and many believed that it was a sure bet that the young director was going to be nominated for Best Director the following year. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, and 50 years later, Spielberg says that he was “surprised” at the snub.

Only a few years after Jaws, Spielberg would earn his first nomination as Best Director for his work in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And almost 20 years had to pass for him to win an Oscar for Best Director. He came out victorious after making Schindler’s List, which many argue is his best film. A couple of years later, it happened again when Spielberg won the Oscar for Saving Private Ryan. The overdue debt was finally settled.

Still, the Jaws snub is a touchy subject with the Jurassic Park auteur. It didn’t exactly hurt his confidence, but per People’s report of his statement, it was a bittersweet surprise. The director spoke about the surprising snub when being interviewed for the National Geographic documentary Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. This is what Spielberg said:

“When a film is on the cusp of being considered for awards, it’s not so much what you want for yourself — it’s what everyone else says is going to happen for you. So I just understood, ‘I guess I’m getting nominated.’

“So when I wasn’t, I was surprised. And I was disappointed. Because I was believing the noise, and you have to not believe that stuff.”

Jaws wasn’t completely snubbed at the Oscars. The Universal Pictures production received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Though it failed to beat One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in the Best Picture category (the Jack Nicholson drama is a Big Five winner), Spielberg’s thriller won in the categories of Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound.

The Question Remains: Did Spielberg Actually Deserve a Best Director Nomination for ‘Jaws’?

There’s no doubt that Jaws is a fine display of the director’s prowess and his ability to put together a thrilling genre blend (something he did again with Jurassic Park in 1993). It is a great example of a well-directed film, one that perfectly represents balance in terms of a compelling narrative and a technical backdrop crucial to causing an impact. After Jaws, the sea was never the same.

However, the competition that year was rough. Miloš Forman became the winner for directing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but the other contenders were legendary as well: Federico Fellini, Robert Altman, Stanley Kubrick, and Sidney Lumet. The young and courageous director who had nearly lost his mind when making his big studio film didn’t have a chance because the Academy wasn’t going to recognize what was already being known as a chaotic production. That was regardless of the fact that Jaws changed cinema forever.

Source: People