Titanic (1997)

It’s been fifteen years since James Cameron spent almost a hundred times as much as it cost to actually build the Titanic ship to make a movie about it. This was initially considered a huge risk, to make an enormous epic about a devastating disaster, and one that had already been made into multiple unsuccessful films prior. However, the reaction was as enormous as the film. From Christmas 1997 until well into the following year, Titanic was the prime topic of cinematic conversation and now, fifteen years later, there is no imagining the film world without it. It has become a permanent part of American culture; few people my age have not seen it, and even fewer dislike it.

To celebrate the film’s fifteenth anniversary, Paramount’s 100^th, and the actual disaster’s 100^th, Cameron has spent another $18,000,000 to convert it to 3-D and give another generation a chance to witness one of Hollywood’s greatest epics on the big screen. I can’t say I approve too much of the 3-D, which here is more useless than obnoxious, but I can say that it is an incredible experience to see Titanic on the big screen, something I had not been able to do before. I am also happy to report that after repeat viewings and years of parody and over-exposure, the film has lost none of its impact.

I cannot immediately think of another movie from the past twenty years that has captivated audiences quite as much as this one. Just look at the numbers: it’s the highest grossing movie of all time, it won more Academy Awards than any movie before it, and it remains a bestseller and public favorite. I keep harping on the movie’s success because that’s a large part of what makes it a modern classic. If it hadn’t been as huge, it would not still be such a hot topic. Of course, it wouldn’t have been as huge if it hadn’t been a great movie to begin with.

It is essentially two movies in one: the drama and the thriller. It is the thriller elements that probably benefit the most from the 3-D, although I feel they were intense and involving enough without it. It may come as a surprise to most when they realize that the actual sinking of the ship doesn’t begin until about half-way through and then takes up the rest of the run time. Despite all of the well-crafted action and disaster scenes, it is the romance that everyone remembers, and I think it takes a great deal for something so emotion-driven to resonate so well with both sexes when other similar stories have not.

The story of the film concerns Kate Winslet as the broke girl from a good family who has been promised to a really despicable cad and Leonardo DiCaprio as the wild poor boy who convinces her to pursue a more fulfilling life, which then sparks the romance. This is all what I now refer to as the “Titanic technique,” which allows a movie to make a great tragedy, like the Holocaust or 9/11, to seem less tragic by focusing on a few triumphant individuals instead of the disaster as a whole. That is using triumphant in the Shakespearian sense, by the way, as not all the main characters here actually survive, though they certainly do succeed. This is what makes the movie inspirational and personal where it easily could have not been.

A film of such enormous success will obviously have its detractors. The biggest complaint seems to be that the movie is manipulative with its emotional content and written in a clichéd manner. (In a recent poll, the infamous line, “I’m the king of the world!” was voted the number one cheesiest in all of the movies.) I, however, have never felt that the movie was forced and was even surprised during this recent viewing by how natural both of the young stars seem, in both their acting and their dialogue. I also must point out that the movie takes place in 1912, and looking at what was popular on the stage and screen at the turn of the century proves that this style of melodrama was all the rage. This is quite simply a movie that makes you look for flaws, but wins you over so much that if any are found they are easily ignored. I can attest to the fact that this is not a movie everyone will like right away. I, for one, recall how much I disliked it the first time I saw it, but now I love it, as I know many others do.

It is frankly hard to talk about a movie like Titanic because it is one that is great because of its size and its splendor and for how it uplifts the viewer’s spirit. Never mind that it can also be viewed as trite and excessive. It is also impossible to judge the film on its own merits because it is surrounded by such a massive following of fans and dumbstruck critics. At the end of the day, the fact that so many years have passed and it is still as exciting and enjoyable as it ever was proves that time will be kind to this little epic, and, for the time being, the new theatrical presentation is the best way to see it.

10/10