Titanic (1997)
I'm not going to write a typical "review" for this. We've all seen it, and I'm not sure I could shed any new light, or even put into words just how much this movie amazes me. But I wanted to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of its release, to try to describe the excitement and awe that enveloped me (and half the world) when it first came out, and perhaps look at a couple of aspects that resonate with me and keep me coming back every few years.
I had not been allowed to see the film in cinemas at the age of 7, but was given the behind-the-scenes companion book by Ed W. Marsh that Christmas. I spent hours gazing in wonderment at its pages, the words that detailed the meticulous and gargantuan process of the film's production. Lavish photography and typography graced every single page. Characters were profiled, costume and set design described, the state-of-the-art visual effects broken down in detail. It was the first time I'd been given real insight into the process of movie-making, and the thing was dog-eared in a matter of weeks.
Then the Christmas following the cinema release, the VHS came to the market, in its white box. I received a copy, and it was immaculate, pristine. Just as the companion book was. The whole design of the film was pristine. The feeling of novelty, newness and adventure underlined by the fact that this had been a luxury liner in its maiden voyage, and the production had virtually rebuilt the ship and all its contents for the purposes of filming. Of course the power of the story was rooted in the fact that this tragedy was a true event, but the appeal came from the fictional romantic leads at its heart. And I was finally given the chance to watch.
James Cameron is a filmmaker dedicated to building emotion, to lingering and revelling in that emotion, for the sake of it. He believes in the power of spectacle, and placing characters that we are invested in, right at the centre, so that the action has maximum effect. Of course that is the aim of most filmmakers, but who really succeeds on that grand scale as much as Cameron does? Who else would else would actually journey 2 miles to the bottom of the Atlantic and photograph the actual wreck for the sake of a film? Who else would persevere through push-back from the studio, forfeiting his own fee in the face of a ballooning budget, and go on to win 11 Oscars? Oh, and the box office receipts speak for themselves.
Cameron orchestrates elaborate sequences for moments that other filmmakers may skim over, for example when the ship simply speeds up as it embarks onward across the Atlantic. Cameron shoots the engine room, the propellers, the dolphins, the entire length and breadth of the vessel. Culminating in Jack declaring "I'm the king of the world!", elevated by James Horner's energetic synth and choral score. Again, the scene where Rose admits to Jack that she has "changed her mind", and the two take to the bow of the ship to "fly". These scenes don't exactly further the story, but they deepen the emotion.
The moment the iceberg hits is obviously pivotal, and a demonstration of screenplay structure. In this moment the B-plot becomes the A-plot. All through Rose's telling of the romance between herself and Jack, and her character's predicament, there are hints at the tragedy that is to befall the ship. Little moments where the characters acknowledge its supposed "unsinkable" status, or the shortage of lifeboats, or the need to make headlines. But when the iceberg hits, the imminent death of Titanic is suddenly brought to the fore, the gravity of the situation conveyed through the scene with the Captain and the shipbuilder ("from this point on, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder"), and suddenly the business with the diamond and Jack and Rose's affair seems frivolous. The A plot becomes the B plot, and yet we still need it to keep us emotionally invested, at a human scale, during the terror of the sinking.
One of the most effective aspects of the film is the wrap-around with Rose as a 100 year old survivor, which to me is a stroke of genius. It gives a modern day context, a sense of reality, of gravity. The diamond Heart of the Ocean is the perfect MacGuffin, the reason for the expedition, and the need to delve into the past. And of course the central duo of Winslet and DiCaprio is irresistible. Cameron's direction to DiCaprio was to be a "Zen" teacher in Rose's life. Apparently DiCaprio had tried to get Cameron to give Jack his own affliction, his own issues, but Cameron understood that Jack needed to be an almost unnatural ideal, in a way to represent hope. Meanwhile Winslet at that point had only done 5 relatively small films prior, and yet she carries this one on her shoulders like a veteran performer. While the chaos rages on the deck of ship, or in its ocean-filled corridors, the impact must be felt in her eyes. And it's Rose learning to survive and persevere that gives the film its meaning.
The film of course has its detractors. It's not always seen as "cool" to love Titanic. If it isn't, then consider me uncool. I still get a jolt of excitement when Bill Paxton, playing the man in pursuit of the diamond, is on the phone to the elderly woman, and says to her “Alright, you have my attention Rose. Can you tell us who the woman in the picture is?” to which she replies "Oh yes, the woman is the picture is me."