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Jack Dawson: Leonardo DiCaprio Rose DeWitt Bukater: Kate Winslet Rose DeWitt Bukater (Older): Gloria Stuart Cal Hockley: Billy Zane Molly Brown: Kathy Bates Brock Lovett: Bill Paxton Written and Directed by James Cameron. Running time: 194 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for shipwreck scenes, mild language and sexuality). |
It is unsinkable. God himself couldn't sink this ship.
-Cal Hockley
She was the most beautiful and largest man-made moving object in the world. She weighed 46 tons, but sailed the ocean like a breeze. All 883 ft of her was hand crafted and welded by the best people in the world. Three years in the making, Titanic was ready to set sail. The ship was destined to make history.
On April 14-15, a mere days after its maiden launch from England, Titanic sank to its watery grave, 400 miles south from Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, where it will stay permanently. Only a mere 800 survivors were left to tell the story, out of the 2200 excited passengers who boarded the vessel.
Titanic is a tribute to the passengers who died on that unforgettable night. Cameron honors their death by making this film as historically accurate as possible, to do it any other way would be inexcusable.
Like the ship itself, the film stirred much controversy and fame during the production. Cameron's technical style of directing is impressive and much needed for this film. No other director, except for Martin Sorcese, would want this much detail put into a film. Cameron called for half of the whole ship to be replicated. He even replicated the ship to the small accessories like the cloth on the dining tables. The ship and the rooms were decorated with such convincing detail that the historians called it "The Titanic."
Like any lavish epic film, it has to follow certain guidelines. Themes have to be catered too. Since Cameron isn't known for his writing, he follows them precisely.
The story involves a 17-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) who is being forced to marry a rich snob named Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) by her penniless mother. Rose is so bitter about the arranged marriage that she tries to kill herself by jumping from the ship. She is saved by Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a resourceful kid from the decks below, and of course they fall in love during the brief time left to them. The whole story is told by the 101-year old Rose (Gloria Stuart) to a group of explorers who are looking for a diamond that went down with the Titanic.
The story of the two lovers is a basic young romance where this proud "who knows what she wants in life" woman falls in love with a young rebel kid who is the total opposite of what she looks for in a man. After Jack saves Rose from her pseudo-suicide, they begin to go through the motions of all typical Hollywood romances. First they find themselves as friends. Then they realize they love each other so they have sex. Their relationship has to then fall apart for some idiotic reason (like she thinks that he is using her for her wealth), but they get back together at the end, where their true love for each other comes out. It is extremely hard to believe that Rose would fall for Jack Dawson. Rose really sees Jack as a sort of escape from her way of life, not as a love interest. He is more like a male friend who shows her things that high-class women rarely see. The romance in general becomes inane and laughable. It really is an insult to audiences where we have to believe they are falling in love.
One of the film's strong point is its supporting actors. We have the captain, where his ego and plain ignorance causes him to make the judgment to increase the speed of the ship, ignoring the reports of icebergs being spotted in the area. His pomposity results in the ship crashing into the iceberg. The designer who built a ship that could sink and regretfully didn't lobby for more lifeboats. In the waning moments of her dive into the ocean, both characters look for redemption. They stay on the ship salvaging any honor they have left and hope that their mistakes can some how be forgiven. We also see the designer, so proud of his ship, fixing one of the dining room clocks to the correct time. His sense of loyalty to the ship is present. It's these characters that bring this film to life.
The rest of characters provide good performances, but they feel too generic and add nothing to the film. As usual, the female lead is a strong character who is ruled by no one, a Cameron trademark e.g. Aliens, Terminator and Terminator 2. However, there is one defining moment in the film that touched this critic's curiosity. It didn't involve our two lead characters, but two very unknown supporting characters who shared a small scene together. Compared to the total time of the movie, if you blinked you'll probably missed it. The scene was during the lengthy descent of the Titanic, where a senior couple sleeps on the bed while the cold freezing water surrounds them. The husband spoons his wife. She is crying and he gives a kiss to reassure her. For whatever reason why they are doing this, they are doing it together. They choose not to busy themselves with saving their lives, but to share their last breathing moments in each other's arms. I found their love to be real than Rose and Jack's relationship. The scene lasted about ten seconds in the 197-minute film, an infinitesimal small amount of time, like a word in a novel, yet it touched me more than any scene in the film.
Some questions that I brought up after the movie, were social conducts that could not have existed in 1910s. There is a scene where Rose gives the middle finger to someone. Was that gesture used during those times?* At one point the script contradicts itself. After the erotic drawing scene, we come to the present with 101 year-old Rose and one of the explorers ask if they consummated their love at that moment. The 101 year-old Rose replies a harsh no and says that he was a perfect gentleman and wouldn't do that sort of thing. Ok we believe it, only to have them destroyed a fifthteen minutes later when Jack makes love with Rose in the back seat of a 1914 Ford. What kind of gentleman is that? A sailor has better manners. Besides wasn't the back seat trick invented during the drive-in movie days?
What is impressive about this film is that it provides us with the luxury of experiencing the Titanic descent into the ocean right in our seat. He masterfully shows us the slow process of the ship sinking. We also pay more attention to passengers than the ship because of clever technique that Cameron used. Before we hear Rose's venture on the Titanic, we get a description of how the Titanic sank, almost like a briefing of things to come. So when we see the events happen, we can follow along easily. We can also divert our attention to the wide range of reactions that the passengers develop. We can feel their pain and suffering as we see this grand unsinkable ship dive into the dark void of the ocean.
Nevertheless, the script hurts the film. Cameron has been known to be a perfectionist. He expects realism from his actors and his shots. His tedious shoots are frustrating, as he will take numerous takes until the perfect shot in his mind is done. He should have been using the same ideal towards his own dialogue. He favored humor over realism.
There has always been a fascination for man to over power nature. We try to build a machine that can be tested against the forces of nature. The Titanic is a symbol that we can never win that battle and so does the movie. Grade: A-
*I have heard that the gesture of the middle finger was used during the times, but it wasn't considered proper, as it was a gesture that shouldn't be used by any young lady.
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