‘Playing With Sharks’ Review: A Makeover for Man-Eaters

  • 📰 WSJ
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 83 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 37%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

Review: The documentary 'Playing With Sharks' celebrates Valerie Taylor, the photographer, filmmaker and conservationist who worked on 'Jaws' and is trying to overturn the scary image of sharks

‘What we are dealing with here,” the actor Richard Dreyfuss says in “Jaws,” is “a perfect engine—an eating machine.” He can be heard saying it again during the introduction to “Playing With Sharks,” the story of photographer, diver and shark conservationist Valerie Taylor. Though Mr. Dreyfuss was describing what the fictional island village of Amity was up against in 1975, it also intimates what Ms.

“I wasn’t a ‘Bond girl,’” Ms. Taylor says at the beginning of this National Geographic production, but the fact that she was blond, beautiful and swam about with man-eating predators helped bring attention to the work of her and her documentarian husband, Ron. It probably also helps account for the wealth of footage at director Sally Aitken’s disposal, of Ms. Taylor above and below the water, on talk shows and on magazine covers.

The Taylors, who pioneered the use of shark cages and advanced techniques of underwater filming, were champion spearfishers turned nature filmmakers turned shark protectors. Their underwater expertise put them in demand and gave them an almost accidental role in what Ms.

The Taylors themselves shot the underwater shark footage for director Steven Spielberg in their native Australia, and “Playing With Sharks” includes much “Jaws” arcana . It also recounts Ms. Taylor’s public-relations efforts to counter the aftereffects of “Jaws,” which demonized great whites in particular and justified shark slaughter in general. “They didn’t listen to me,” says Ms. Taylor, now 85. “Frankly, they didn’t care.

“Playing With Sharks” has its visual thrills but also tells one good story after another, not only about making movies and flirting with death but about the nature of the fish and the steely character of the movie’s human subject. She overcame polio as a young girl, walking again after no one said she would. The love story of Valerie and Ron Taylor is understated but real. There isn’t a lot about Ms. Taylor’s family, or that she first came to spearfishing as a way to help feed them.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Goodluck. Anything that can destroy a human in one bite, will always be scary

Would you like to create a second source of income for yourself from the comfort of your home? It won’t interfere with your job or whatever you do. Send a DM for more details

good

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 98. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Summer Health Hazards: Bears, Sharks, Heatstroke, and MoreSome summer problems, like sunburn and heatstroke, are common. Others are rare -- think bears and sharks! Are you prepared? Find out with the help of this WebMD slideshow.
Source: WebMD - 🏆 709. / 51 Read more »

The Woman Who Played With Sharks and Lived To Tell About It (Of Course She Did)New National Geographic/Disney+ documentary Playing with Sharks traces the career of Valerie Taylor, who went from shark slayer to conservationist advocate
Source: Jezebel - 🏆 153. / 63 Read more »

The Woman Who Played With Sharks and Lived To Tell About It (Of Course She Did)New National Geographic/Disney+ documentary Playing with Sharks traces the career of Valerie Taylor, who went from shark slayer to conservationist advocate
Source: Jezebel - 🏆 153. / 63 Read more »

The Best KKW Beauty Products to Shop While They’re Still On SaleThe reality star-turned-entrepreneur’s beauty brand is holding an epic blowout ahead of its makeover. Thankyou. Lol, you are better than this That’s always a good sign right?
Source: THR - 🏆 411. / 53 Read more »

Amazon Is Crowdfunding a Designer Echo Dot — Here’s How to Get Your Hands on OneDVF just gave this best-selling Amazon device a major makeover.
Source: StyleCaster - 🏆 104. / 63 Read more »

Cannes Review: ‘Our Men’Director Rachel Lang follows military couples in Our Men, an intriguing insight into French Foreign Legion life that closed the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section. Lang herself graduated as Lieute…
Source: DEADLINE - 🏆 109. / 63 Read more »