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Starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Kathy Bates, Gloria
Stuart, Bill Paxton, Danny Nucci, Eric Braeden. Written and Directed by James Cameron.
A team of scientists (led by Paxton) have spent three years filming the remains of the Titanic. But their real goal is to acquire treasure that went down with ship on that cold April night in 1912. They discover a drawing of a beautiful young woman wearing a huge diamond pendant, reportedly rescued from French King Louis' neck as it was being chopped off at the Bastille. It is the priceless piece the treasure hunters were seeking. Incredibly, the woman in the picture is still alive at 101 (Stuart), and is flown in so as to give clues to the whereabouts of the diamond. Instead, they are treated to the story of her experience aboard the Titanic. Rose (Winslet) boards the ship with her stiff-upper-lipped mother (Fisher), and her very arrogant and wealthy fiance (Zane). She hates the thought of marrying him, but her family is basically broke, and her mother has groomed her to marry well, and take care of her into her old age. Contemplating ending it all, she is saved from going overboard by a young buck in steerage class named Jack (DiCaprio). Rose, of course, can't get him out of her mind. She is drawn to his zest for life and ability to face each day as it comes, and he to her inner fire and beauty. She brings him into her rich and opulent world for a lavish dinner, and he brings her to a party on the 3rd class deck, where she dances and chugs Guinness late into the night. But her hubby-to-be, as well as her mother, are not amused, and forbid her to see Jack again. Well big surprise, she sees him anyway, and while together, they witness the ship careening off a huge iceberg. Unknown to them, the iceberg has ripped the right side of the ship below water, and the big ship is going to go down. While we know the basic details of the Titanic story, and the beginning segment of the movie describes in detail how the ship came apart and went down, this only heightens our anticipation of witnessing its destruction. And it is spectacular. Director Cameron reportedly spent over $200 million, and a large chunk of it went into building a 236 metre (yes, that's huge) model of the ship, and a huge tank to sail it in. The first 2 hours of the 3 1/4 hour film is an elegant costume drama, where the Edwardian costumes, ornate chandeliers and wood carvings are authentically recreated. But the film is at its best after disaster has struck. Smooth camera movements give way to frantic, jerky hand held shots. Rushing water, falling bodies and chaos in trying to get on lifeboats that are sufficient to handle less than half of the 2200 persons on board make the final part of the film exciting and tragic. The computer effects are numerous, but in all but a couple of cases, blend in beautifully with the real people and objects. The shots of the ship sinking, and the stern going up into the air, and then crashing into the ocean are simply amazing. The cast is quite good. Stuart acts as the narrator, as well as the living reminder of Rose, and gives the film the feel of authenticity. Both DiCaprio and Winslet stand out, displaying real chemistry, and give us characters we care about. Where the film is less than stellar is in the characterization. Characters are drawn in black and white, with few shades of gray. Those in the lower class are shown as down-to-earth, decent, unselfish - the nobility of poverty. The upper class are shown as stuffy, arrogant and lacking in real character. There is insufficient attempt to go beyond the surface of these characters, and go beyond good-guy, bad-guy motivations. Lots of the dialogue, romantic moments and tragic moments are hokey. I mean, really hokey. But these deficiencies are more than made up by the visual splendour and ambitious work that Cameron has put into the film. This is event movie-making at its best, and it is well worth taking the voyage.  |