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"Titanic
is not just a cautionary
tale
- a myth, a parable, a metaphor
for the
ills of mankind. It is also a
story
of faith, courage, sacrifice,
and,
above all else, love."
-James Cameron-
...he forgot to mention
that it also cures cancer. Having forced myself to sit through Cameron's
magnum hack-sterpiece, and in the face of the near unanimous, cloying
(and frankly, quite annoying) acclaim which it has received, I feel
I must draw attention to a couple of facts:
I. James
Cameron Is No Howard
Hawks
Do I
need to qualify this? Even newly silly Janet Maslin (who lost any semblance
of credibility she might once have had by stating that "Titanic" equals
and perhaps surpasses "Gone With The Wind") would be hard pressed to argue
that James Cameron has Hawks' capacity for correlative dialogue, or Chayefsky's
facility for veracity; I applaud his effort (such as it was), but clearly
Cameron was not up to the task he set before himself. One spends the entire
time watching this film waiting to hear DiCaprio's character (or even Bill
Paxton's character, in his bookend-of-a-role) let loose with a rousing
"Game over, man!"; but no, Cameron doesn't even reward you with the sugarpill
of camp; he is determined you take his silly dialogue seriously, and gives
you no such comfortable out. With that acknowledged, we don't criticize
a 4-year-old for his inability to color within the lines, I suppose...though
neither do we declare that child Master Of The Crayon. Though that title,
in relation to his screenwriting prowess, would seem to fit Cameron particularly
well...
II. James
Cameron Is No Robert
Altman
Were
it not for the positively herculean acting chops of Kate
Winslet and Leonardo
DiCaprio, this film would be unwatchable...and it would seem that Cameron
did his best to rein in even their laudable efforts, as every time their
respective characterizations begin to take root and gestate believability,
they are checked by some other preposterous, laughably melodramatic plot
twist. I would think the story and characters, as titularly written, would
be better served had Cameron decided to film a selection of carefully arranged,
life-sized cardboard cut-outs, while he himself read from his own Masterwork
In Crayon/Screenplay in the appropriate voices (and given the rumors
about his ironclad, quasi-fascist perfectionism/other working methods,
does that not present a workable paradigm for The Perfect James Cameron
Film?) . In the same respect, I can neither applaud nor criticize Kathy
Bates' work as The Unsinkable Molly Brown; as written, it seems her character
was only afforded new life in this telling of the Titanic legend in order
that DiCaprio find the necessary wherewithal to carry off his dinner with
the Edwardian Captain Stubing and Company - just as the character of the
Pennsylvania steel magnate's son only existed to drive Winslet and DiCaprio
into each other's arms. And now we come to it: what can be said of Billy
Zane's work as that magnate's son? A bit of advice, perhaps: his character
would probably have been better served had he grown a long mustache, waxed
it into curls at each end, and then proceeded to work it despotically with
his fingertips each time he plotted how further to foil Winslet and DiCaprio.
And maybe Cameron should have copped to his influences in this respect
and had Zane's henchman work up a passable snivelling dog-laugh, so that
the two could more honestly resemble their literary progenitors: Hanna/Barbera's
Dick Dastardly and (his faithful dog) Mutley,
from the Wacky
Races... 
III. James
Cameron Is No Marty
Scorsese...But Not For Lack Of Trying
Ever
watch Scorsese's criminally underrated 1993 cinematic re-interpretation
of Edith Wharton's _The Age Of Innocence_? Cameron has, repeatedly I would
warrant. I could spend a good deal of time on this particular point, but
there is a simpler, better way to put it to you. If you doubt that Cameron
stole shamelessly from Scorsese's film for "Titanic"'s scenes of late Victorian/early
Edwardian reserve, watch "The Age Of Innocence". Then try and explain how
oddly coincident it is that many of the same, above-mentioned scenes in
"Titanic" (I counted three, before losing track in disgust) seem clumsy,
inexact (even, perhaps, unconscious) copies of scenes in "...Innocence"
- from set-decoration, to camera movements, right through even to the TIMBRE
AND TONE OF GLORIA STUART'S VOICE-OVER NARRATION! (Although, given that
"...Innocence"'s narrator, Joanne Woodward, had Edith Wharton's mightily-hewn
prose to weave her elocutory magic about, while Stuart had passages of
considerably less literary dexterity - penned by Cameron - this "borrowing"
of Woodward's ironic intonation would be understandable - if copped to
- even while not being, ultimately, forgivable). If we deride
Tarantino for his widely-publicized Grand
Theft Cinema in reproducing elements of Ringo Lam's "City On Fire"
in his "Reservoir Dogs", we ought to hold Cameron - the odds-on favorite
for Best Director, 1997 remember, as awarded by the Academy - equally accountable...
To Sum
Up
I harbor
no illusions about where "Titanic" will be come March; most assuredly it
will still be afloat. And I don't begrudge either it or its director the
bumper crop of awards both seem set to reap (the Oscars,
as such, are a farce in many respects anyway - Robert Forster - who was
admirable - but no Pam Grier - who carried "Jackie
Brown"? I'm surprised Tom Hanks wasn't nominated in the Best Actress
category ahead of her, as well - but that's another web page). What I object
to is the unanimous declaration of "Titanic"'s unquestioned, original brilliance
by the critical and popular media. I had hoped to see by this time some
mitigating
reference to the above points with regard to "Titanic"; this having
not been the case, however, I took it upon myself to list them here, in
as bombastic and deliberate a fashion as possible. Call it a backlash if
you like, but at least allow the above three objections to Cameron's middling
piece of bloated, over-indulgent filmmaking - he paints with light as if
it were a crayon, I must re-state - to leaven to the tsunami
of praise (I love you to death Harry, but PUUULLLLLLEEEEASE!) it has
received. And watch Scorsese's "Age Of Innocence" with the above things
in mind; it is apparent that Cameron did.
More Anti-Titanic
Web Pages
The
Big Gay Boatride
Titanic,
a criticism
The
Titanic Sank, Let's Move On...
Source
Material
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