Film: "Titanic" (1997).
The blockbuster to end all blockbusters, James Cameron's lavish production,
winner of 11 Oscars, is said to have cost over $200 million, making it the
most expensive film ever made. The dedicated film-maker even commissioned his
own underwater shooting of the actual wreck. An entire world has been
recreated painstakingly on screen, allowing us to imagine ourselves on the
doomed liner and identify completely with the horrified passengers as the
"unsinkable" ship slowly fills with water. Yet the viewer's initial impression
may be disappointing. The framing device - modern-day salvage workers seeking
a missing diamond - feels clumsy, and when the flashbacks begin, Rose, Kate
Winslet's rebellious society bride-to-be, seems as cliched a character as the
artist she loves - Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson. Rose's intended is, of
course, an oleaginous villain (Billy Zane). Dramatic irony is laid on with a
trowel. And just to put everything in context we also have pointed references
to "Something Picasso" and "Freud" - "Who's he - a passenger?"
From the moment that iceberg is struck however, the atmosphere changes.
Suddenly the special effects come into their own as we watch how the ship is
punctured, beginning a sure process of self-destruction. Her sinking is "a
mathematical certainty", the dismayed captain (Bernard Hill) is told. Class
iniquities become equally certain as we see the rich with first pick of the
too-few lifeboats.
The desperate attempts of Rose and Jack to stay alive and stay together are
compelling. In the end, however, it is not the grand romance that lends the
film its power, but Cameron's attention to detail. In the middle of the night,
you are likely to remember the smaller, more disturbing moments - rows of
white plates cascading to the ground, the old couple lying on their bed
waiting to be submerged or simply the band that played on.
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