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Written by: James Cameron
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
Verdict
This not only mixes multiple genres, it does it so exquisitely. This movie is an achievement; an epic statement displaying the power of film. It brings history to life presenting the tale of the ill-fated Titanic by showing us a romance that turns into an action movie as the ship begins to sink. The pacing hides the length of the movie, you'd never realize how long it is as there's not a moment where you'd check the time. This movie excels in every facet. It's phenomenal.
Watch It.
Review
I saw this when it originally released in theaters. It was one of those few must see movies that had such a hype around it, breaking all kinds of box office numbers. People watched it multiple times in the theater. It was nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and won a record-tying eleven, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Cameron admitted making the movie was a means to achieve his true goal of an undersea expedition to see the Titanic. He filmed all of the expedition footage before he even wrote the script.
The strength of the movie is that it takes a simple love story and manages to create a grand adventure out of it, marrying it with the historic sinking of an actual ship. Everyone knows about the Titanic, and this movie brought it to life; the intrigue of a grand ship and the terror as it sank. It was one thing to read about it but seeing it was a novel experience.
The movie is book ended by Brock Lovett's (Bill Paxton) present day deep sea exploration looking for treasure on the famous ship. It's a great way in to the story by directly linking past and present. The Titanic wasn't as long ago as we think. Brock finds a drawing of a woman at the bottom of the ocean that's been there for eighty-four years. He's then called by a woman that claims to be the same woamn in the drawing. Rose (Gloria Stuart) is one hundred and one now, but back then Rose (Kate Winslett) was an aristocrat in an arranged marriage. She tells Brock and his crew what happened on the Titanic. She felt trapped with no future prospects in contrast to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), a pauper scraping by but happy. Rose has an entire suite of rooms on the ship. Jack has a tiny room shared with three other guys.
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| Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet play Jack Dawson, Rose DeWitt Bukater |
Jack sees Rose and is smitten. The class divide is insurmountable, but Jack manages to save her life and make a connection. He's invited to dinner with the family and Rose's mom is a colossal snob. Of course she thinks little of Jack or anyone else who isn't rich. The funny thing about the rich, some have to remind everyone how rich they are and point out anyone not on their level. The mom is insecure as she's on the verge of losing her status, hence the arranged marriage. Jack takes the veiled insults in stride. He's happy with his life in contrast to Rose. With all she has and the opportunities, she's unhappy.
We get this forbidden love story with two characters separated by a class difference, but we know something ominous is on the periphery. We not only get this romance that's easy to ship, but we get to visit this famed ship too. Once the love story reaches a climax, that's when the Titanic strikes an ice berg. At that point the movie becomes a thrilling action movie as Jack and Rose must avoid her enraged fiance Cal (Billy Zane) while the ship literally sinks. Some passengers board life boats but others don't believe the ship could sink. Of course the rich think they should have first right to be saved. It's great tension as we see the water rising in every scene. Know the inevitable only makes this better. We know the ship sinks, but it's how it sinks that makes this so engrossing. We watch as water fills the deck and the corridors. It's ominous, dark, and terrifying.
This movie could coast on the Titanic concept alone, but it's a good script. All these moments introduced earlier come back to form a satisfying symmetry; from boasts about the indomitable ship to Rose forced to step out of her comfort zone and stand against her family. This movie is about class divide, from Rose and Jack's forbidden romance to passengers on the lower decks and those in suites fighting over life boats. Order slowly breaks down as the situation becomes clear this ship will sink. With all this movie has and does, we also get these poignant moments like when the band continues to play in the face of the inevitable or the Captain returning to the wheelhouse to perish with his ship.
No doubt this movie is great, but it's funny to think grandma Rose has been holding on to this story and never told anyone she was aboard the Titanic, escaped with Jack, floated in the water, and eventually arrived in New York to start a new life. Jack told Rose she would live a full life, and we see that she did indeed do that. It was a life Jack gave her even if they didn't share it. He inspired her to savor life and forge her own path, and she never would have done that without his encouragement. That's a powerful conclusion to an amazing movie.
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