Flippin' Nora I have sooooo many reviews to read!!! Kate x
Flippin' Nora I have sooooo many reviews to read!!! Kate x
Member since:17.07.2006
Reviews:148
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Titanic 1997 A story beyond compare
Director : James Cameron
Kate Winslet Leonardo De Caprio
Music by James Horner and Gaelic Storm
Winner of 11 Academy Awards
Basic synopsis:
Rose is a rich, unhappy 1st class passenger, Jack is a poor but happy steerage passenger, and they come together across the divide of their social postitions in life, on a ship we all know sinks. Will they make it? Will love survive the icy waters of the Atlantic? It's a journey they take against the backdrop of the most famous ship in the world.
My love affair with this film.
In 1997 I stood in a cinema queue at the Odeon, round the corner from Lime Street Station, in Liverpool, and held my breath for a movie I had been waiting my whole life to see. Well, I held my breath. I had no idea then that the film I was about to see would have such a huge effect on my life.
Titanic is essentially a story about people. About the strength of the human spirit. About how nothing really matters when you fall in love - not class or money or anything, save what you feel. In this film, James Cameron weaves a human element through a story we know like the backs of our hands - the Titanic was a big ship: the biggest the world had ever seen - and it hit an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and sank. And what's more, its still there, 2.5 miles down, crumbling into the sea-bed.
What Cameron does with this film is bring historical truth to life, and he shows the human element of the tragedy - its all too easy to remember the legends of titanic, and forget the real people who were there. Who walked her decks and ate in her dining rooms and slept in her steerage quarters.
By weaving a love story into
a tale of legendary status, Cameron invites us to view the "world of Titanic" through the eyes of our hero and heroine - Jack Dawson (De Caprio) and Rose De Witt Bukater (Winslet) - and gives us a chance to experience the truth and reality of "The Ship of Dream". The love between our two main characters is one that bridges many chasms - social class - she is rich, he is poor personality - she has always played it safe and is longing to be free, and he is free, literally travelling from place to place and never thinking about tomorrow till it comes life and death - they battle throughout the film to escape perilous situations, cheating death every time, finding in the end that memory and story serve as much to keep people alive as anything else. In short, they teach each other many lessons, they learn together, and grow, and it's the character growth as much as the race for survival on a ship you already know is doomed, that keeps you pinned to your chair and holding your breath.
I saw this movie 3 times at the cinema. I bought my first CD player (aged 24!!) in order to play James Horner's beautiful soundtrack (which incidentally was also my first CD!!) - and my love affair with this film has only grown stronger as the years have passed.
There are so many elements that enchant me about this film. Obviously the main one is the idea that there is someone out there for everyone, and that when you meet the person who is perfect for you, it's a journey like no other, sinking ship or no.
I am still astounded and amazed by how well Cameron has crafted this fantastic tapestry of tiny bits of history - it's technically perfect - wholes scenes are created from actual photographs (like the scene where Jack steals/borrows a first class passenger's coat on the deck - this is from a famous photograph of a little boy and his father, playing on the deck - they both survived the sinking as they disembarked in Ireland) - these were real people and in the film, they are portrayed by the actors doing things that they actually really did, all those years ago on the deck of a sinking ship. In some ways I think it's the historical aspect that draws me in as much as anything else. Knowing that shots of the real ship were used in the film (taken from the submersibles that Cameron used to get right down to the ship as part of his research) -knowing that the original ship blueprints from Harland and Wolffe ( who built Titanic all those years ago) where used to re-create the ship set that Cameron used during filming, even knowing that every ashtray and plate and curtain and chair - in fact everything that was on the set, was an exact reproduction of what was really on the ship as it set sail for the first and last time . The authentic nature of the film is apparent in tiny details, like the fact that every woman on set was wearing a corset - all the extras, EVERYONE - I mean, that is just pure fanatical attention to detail but it's what makes this film, and the process of the films creation so brilliant, such pure genius! I still get blown away by the idea that Cameron used real footage of the real Titanic and I think you really do get the sense that in doing this, using shots from the dive in the film, Cameron is striving (and I feel he succeeds) to create that same reality with his set and costume and people, to make the viewer really believe, without question, that these things happened, that they happened this way, in this time, with these people, on this ship. And you do believe it. With all your heart.
Still the film is as much, maybe more, about emotional truth as factual truth - the human behaviour is perfect for the time: Cameron has his cast moving, speaking, generally behaving directly in line with the etiquette of the day, and this provides a backdrop for the love theme as well as helping the viewer to believe in what's happening before their eyes. But more than this, is the emotional journeys the passengers and main characters go on throughout the film, and this is what makes it so special for me. The journey to life, or to death: watching people who know they are doomed wait for death to sweep them up, watching people who are determined at all costs to live, battle and fight - the emotion is as real and tangible as the dishes that smash on the floor as the ship goes down and, well, it just takes my breath away every time.
Titanic is one of those films where every time you watch it, you see something you missed the last time, or you interpret something in a slightly different way. It is a film that gives hope that true and lasting love is out there, somewhere - that one day you'll find the one person that you would gladly jump back onto a sinking ship just to be with for ten more minutes, that you'll meet the someone who will inspire you to reach high for your dreams and who will raise you up from the doldrums of an ordinary life to a place where you can be who you want to be, and be a better person for it. My favourite scene is the one at the end, where we see all of Rose's photographs (you know the one?) and we see the journey she has been on, and we realise that this is what life is all about.
This is a haunting film, that stays with you long after the credits have rolled...it is technically brilliant, historically factual, acurate and authentic down to the tiniest details, and though long, it will hold your attention right down to the final credit roll. Don't even think about not buying tissues. You WILL need them!!
If you've never watched this film, go buy it and watch it. If you've seen it already, go watch it again. I think it's one of those films that will be watched as much in 50 years as it is now and I salute James Cameron for making it in the first place.
Thankyou for reading, Kate x
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Great review for a great film. It made me cry a lot too. I saw it 4 times at cinema and cried every time. (although I did have a major crush on Leo at the time so that may have had something to do with it) I think if I were to watch it today I would still cry.
I was kinda obsessed with Titanic. I got hold of the script of the net and printed it out and would take it into school where a group of us would act bits out of it at lunchtimes but I think more time was spent arguing about who would get the parts of Rose and Jack lol! Toni
clownfoot 06.09.2006 01:41
One of Cameron's worst movies - despite making the genius Terminator and Aliens, people will remember him more for the big boat movie, which whilst technically superb has one god-awful romantic storyline that's poorly scripted and woodenly acted. Gah! Utter pants! Alboy
When the theatrical release of James Cameron'sTitanicwas delayed from July to December of ... more
1997, media pundits speculated that Cameron's $200 million disaster epic would cause the director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era and sink Param...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
When the theatrical release of James Cameron'sTitanicwas delayed from July to December of ... more
1997, media pundits speculated that Cameron's $200 million disaster epic would cause the director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era and sink Param...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Nothing on earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic the ... more
sweeping love story that sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the world ultimately emerging as the most popular motion picture of all time. Leonardo DiCapri...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Nothing on earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic. Winner ... more
of eleven Academy Awards., including Best Picture, this sweeping love story sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the globe, ultimately emerging as the mos...
Advantages: Fanatastic, Sensational, Marvellous film with plenty of extra features on 4 Discs Disadvantages: None worth being labelled as a genuine disadvantage
![Titanic [1998] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78258924.jpg "Titanic [1998] [DVD]")
Sep 3rd, 2006
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