Titanic

For those of you living on some other planet for the past few years, Titanic was a box office smash in late 1997/early 1998, compelling millions of people to see it (and thousand of teenage girls to see it numerous times). If you have been living on some other planet for most of the last century, let me also state the obvious: yes, the ship did sink, and over 1,500 people died. So... why would anyone want to go see this movie, let alone see it more than once?

I have seen Titanic three times: twice in the theater, and once at home. The video was given to me as a Christmas present at the end of 1998... but I didn't watch it again until last week. Somehow the movie was both more and less than I remembered it being.

Titanic begins with a clever frame story that allows recent footage of the ship, sitting silently at the bottom of the ocean. There is a group of people scavenging for a priceless diamond necklace in the wreckage; instead they find a drawing of a nude woman wearing the necklace. They are soon contacted by a woman named Rose Dawson ("Old Rose" played by Gloria Stuart), who claims to be the woman in the drawing. It is through Rose's eyes that the story of the maiden voyage of the Titanic is told. But she not only tells the story of how the ship went down, but also of her shipboard romance with a steerage passenger (Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and her engagement to a wealthy man (Cal Hockley, played by Billy Zane).

The Impressive Parts of the Movie

On a lot of levels, Titanic really works. The crew of the film (led by Director James Cameron) constructed a magnificent replica of Titanic, which boasted historical accuracy down to the china and flatware on the tables. During the film, the ship as it is now is transformed slowly into the set, and the effect is breathtaking. Of course, even the footage of the ship at the bottom of the ocean is something to see.

When I first saw the movie, I was about 3 months pregnant, and I somehow managed to sit through all 3 hours of the film without going to the bathroom. (This despite all the water on the screen - all you mothers know how amazing this is.) The sheer opulence of the ship, the optimism exhibited by all of the passengers, some of the humor in the script, and even the soap opera-like main plot kept me in my chair. During the first two hours, I honestly forgot that the ship was going to sink!

Of course, the tone changes entirely during the third hour, in which the ship sinks (if I am not mistaken, Cameron directed this segment to approximate the actual amount of time that the sinking took). It is devastating to watch as chaos takes over the ship, with one lifeboat leaving with only 12 people on it, third class passengers being kept locked in their area until they are able to break out, and people beginning to die. Many historical anecdotes are included in the film; several young passengers play with some of the ice from the iceberg on deck, Ida Strauss decides to not get into a lifeboat, but instead to stay with her husband on the sinking ship, Benjamin Guggenheim asks for a brandy as he decides to "go down like a gentleman."

So, What's the Downside to the Film?

It depends on who you are, I guess. The whole love triangle between Rose ("Young" Rose, played by Kate Winslet), Jack, and Cal is completely over the top; Rose and Jack are "good" characters, while Cal has no redeeming characteristics at all. Some of the scripted lines are kind of jarring, too (at least I thought so on my third viewing).

A lot of people have criticized the end of the movie, as well - not that the ship sank, but rather the end of the frame story, in which "Old" Rose throws the necklace into the ocean. She is then shown in bed, either dreaming of the Titanic or perhaps dead; in either case, the numerous people who died on Titanic are there, applauding, as "Young" Rose once again meets Jack. I preferred to think of this segment as sort of a curtain call instead of reading anything much into it.

Awards

Titanic swept the Academy Awards in 1998, taking home statues for Best Director, Best Original Song, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing.

Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart were both nominated for Awards in Acting (Best Actress - Winslet /Best Supporting Actress - Stuart). Hollywood gossip suggested that Leonardo DiCaprio felt slighted by not being nominated for Best Actor.
(My opinion only: I thought the acting was very good, but certainly wasn't the best part of the film. I do recall being impressed that DiCaprio could act... I think I had stereotyped him as "pretty, but talent-less" type.)

If you are one of the 5 people in the United States who somehow hasn't seen Titanic, it is a movie that I recommend. While far more impressive on the big screen of a movie theater, I still had to have my Kleenex box out for my television viewing. Most interestingly, there were small segments that affected me even more now; somehow having a small son makes all the scenes where children die even more terrible. I know that I will be watching my copy of this movie again... but not for a few more years. It just affects me too deeply to repeat the experience again before that.