Duel vs Jaws

Jaws.  Duel is a good movie, but Jaws is one of the all-time greats.

The one directed by Spielberg.

I also prefer Duel

Jaws

I'm going to go with... Duel.

Jaws is better in terms of film-making and more engaging minute-to-minute but Duel has a better script purring under the hood and I think it is more interesting. Interesting how, right?

Alright. You can draw a parallel theme between the two films: Being forced out of your comfortable routine by a monster; something you don't really understand that you must confront. In some ways, intentional or not, Duel seems like a warm up for Jaws. This is not a novel observation even in this thread but it is accurate. There is a force of nature wreaking havoc and a protagonist who is not equipped to deal with it must deal with it head on.

What I think makes Duel more interesting is that it is a more personal character study. David Mann (wink wink, see what they did with the surname) is a wimp. He's badgered by his wife, he's having problems with his job, he gets bullied and dominated by more assertive people, but nonetheless society allows him to continue to ride. He is a failure, a passive protagonist, but he is still safe and secure in a civilized world. It is when the sadistic trucker comes into the picture that he has to, likely for the first time in his life, act.

And you know, he doesn't at first. He tries to hide. He tries to run. He tries to bargain. He tries to assert himself but he does not know how and he fails. He tries to avoid confrontation if he can at all help it but he cannot escape it this time. He has to stand up for himself. He is broken and has to remake himself in order to survive.

The most important turning point is his realization in the bathroom scene that he is "back in the jungle". While he does disregard his own thoughts and wavers, that turns out to be prescient and the arc of his character. And that wavering, I like. That is how a lot of people act. You often tend to come to the realization that something drastic must be done far before your mind allows you the privilege to act. You will talk yourself out of it-- bargain, reason, over-analyze-- because taking that step is dangerous and it needs to not only be what you know you have to do, but what you have no choice but to do. That you are backed into a corner and this is your only, last solution.

Coming from a wimp like David, it's satisfying. He does everything reasonable thing possible to resolve the situation, despite his weaknesses, until he is left with no choice but to literally take the trucker head on. I like this in a character.

The reason why this works well for me is because of the way it is written. It is by no means a subtle film but it captures a fundamental conflict of humanity: The need to struggle and fight even if you are weak. The need for the average person to stand up even when staying hidden is safer. If not for that trucker, Mann would have meekly scraped by, never standing up for himself, never knowing "the jungle". And I think that is a far more interesting story.

JAWS