Titanic is a film that famously ran over budget and was a nightmare to make for the filmmaking team. The iceberg in the distance seemed like the perfect metaphor for the future failure of the film. Only, the film was not a failure, it was a huge success, and I mean huge!! No one saw it coming, and the film launched the career for Kate Winslet and placed Leonardo DiCaprio in the limelight. So why was this blockbuster a hit and not a miss?
The romantic narrative of Titanic gave me similar feelings to when I watched Casablanca. Where the story is more focused on the characters of Jack and Rose rather than the tragic fate of the ship. It’s timeless in that regard and the film pulls the audience into the story with a false sense of security. We know the Titanic, a ship constantly referred to as unsinkable, will sink. These characters are fictional though, so their fates are unknown and that makes the film all the more interesting.
It helps that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have such great chemistry with each other, with their youthfulness and playfulness all on display for us to see. We don’t get much background for their characters, but we know they both have suffered at the hands of their parents, mentally speaking, which connects them on a deeper level. The script handles their encounters at a natural pace, with no forced plot devices or awkward exposition evident in the film. You could argue that the length of the film, at over three hours long, is excessive. However, at no point does the film feel overstuffed or feel like it’s dragging us along. The constant shift between past and present gives the story a very even and balanced structure.
James Cameron has famously had a huge fascination with deep-sea exploration. Just look at his documentary work or his films such as The Abyss. It is thanks to this fascination that drew him to the story of the Titanic. Studying the history of the ill-fated ship made him melancholic enough to direct the film. That melancholy translates perfectly to the big screen with the theme riding throughout the film like a ship on some waves.
The late James Horner and Celine Dion’s signature song also help to give Titanic its identity. The music having a period touch and the title song serving as an ode to the love of Rose and Jack. It’s the perfect synergy of music, props, scriptwriting, and acting that sells this film and I got drawn into their story as much as everyone else did. The emotional gut-punch of the ending comes expected but still hits the chest like a sucker punch, and that’s basically how the film feels from start to finish.
★★★★★
5/5
Overall, Titanic is an extravagant piece of cinema. You don’t get any bigger, or more emotional and epic as this film. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet swoon us away on this big grand adventure where although they’re heading towards tragedy, it is the journey there that makes us believe in the story.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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