Lines from one of cinema’s most famous monologues. As sharp as a shark’s tooth, the actor Robert Shaw delivered it in the movie Jaws. His character, Quint, is hired by a police chief, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), to hunt down and kill a great white shark terrorizing his town. In the scene, Quint tells Brody and marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) about his experience as a crewmember on the battleship USS Indianapolis.

Although the shark is central to the story, the narrative is about people’s motivation, fears, and obsessions. Steven Spielberg directed what would become the first summer blockbuster and his auteur touch is evident.

Quint's monologue is a critical scene. In it, we learn what drives the old shark hunter and how treacherous these animals are, just moments before the movie’s villainous shark reappears to terrorize the men. It’s also a brief education on the USS Indianapolis. In 1945, after delivering the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, the Indianapolis was hit by a Japanese torpedo. The ship sank in twelve minutes, and the men floated in the ocean for four days before they were rescued. The story isn’t entirely accurate in its history. Quint puts the sinking as June 29th, not the correct date of July 30th; a distress signal was sent but was missed, and the sharks didn't eat all the men. They got 150. Three hundred went down with the ship, and hundreds of others died by hyperthermia, suicide, starvation, salt poisoning or drowning. Still, it was the most significant single shark attack in history, a horrific way to die, and a dreadful thing to witness.

The magic in Quint's monologue isn't in its history; there are books and documentaries for that, but in its structure. Clocking in at only three and a half minutes, it is an excellent example of visual, compelling storytelling. Robert Shaw, also an accomplished writer, helped edit and shape the monologue from its original ten pages, and then nailed its delivery.

I watch the entire movie every two or three years, but I watch the monologue on YouTube countless times each year. Losing myself for just a few moments in storytelling genius and fine acting.

If you’ve never seen the movie, you must, and if you did and haven’t watched it in a while, queue it up. And when Quint starts his tale of the Indianapolis, prepare to be gripped as tight as the two tons of force delivered by a great white’s jaws.