THE AISLE SEAT - "TITANIC"
by Mike McGranaghan
Titanic is a tale of lost opulence and human tragedy, a film that not only makes a familiar historical event frighteningly real but explores how an upper-class dream dissolved into a nightmare of unspeakable cost. James Cameron's 3-hour-and-12-minute epic missed its original July release date, and it lays claim to being the most expensive film ever made (with a price tag of about $200 million), but the result is without a doubt the movie experience of the year.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jack Dawson, a young artist who travels the world with hardly a care. During a poker game, he wins a ticket aboard the Titanic, the luxurious ship that is about to make its maiden voyage. Fittingly, his ticket is for the steerage section, where the less wealthy passengers are put so they won't mingle with the elite. Jack doesn't care, though; he's just thrilled to be on such a magnificent vessel.
As he strolls on the deck one evening, Jack meets a young woman named Rose (Kate Winslet). Rose is engaged to marry Count Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). Hockley is a prig, but he's rich, and Rose's family has been financially devastated. Marrying him will allow her family to stay in the good graces of upper-crust society. Jack is immediately attracted to Rose, and while she also finds herself attracted to him, she must deny her feelings and proceed with her engagement. But she finds it increasingly difficult to deny Jack, so she begins sneaking off to various parts of the ship with him. Once Hockley finds out, he becomes enraged, vowing to do whatever it takes to ruin young Jack.
There are, of course, other things to worry about, especially once the Titanic hits a giant iceberg and begins to sink. The collision helps Rose clarify her feelings about Jack, but they are faced the with prospect that one or both of them might not survive. There is a small number of lifeboats for the rich (which bodes well for Rose), but since Jack is in steerage, he will be one of the last to be helped off the ship. For a full 80 minutes of screen time, the Titanic sinks. Careful plotting allows Jack and Rose to travel all through the ship, so that every time something of significance occurs to the boat, they are right there for it.
Prior to the release of Titanic, I heard a lot of rumbling about the film's love story. Why, people always said, did they feel the need to put in a love story instead of just documenting the ship's sinking, which is dramatic enough? The answer is twofold. First, other films have been made about the sinking of the Titanic (A Night to Remember being chief among them). Second, and more importantly, having two protagonists to follow adds to the sense of horror the audience feels. Yes, we would feel awful seeing a film that depicted the loss of over 1,000 lives, but when we have an emotional investment in these two characters, the urgency of the disaster is even greater. You comprehend to some degree how the people on board might have felt as they wondered if their loved ones would survive.
As a love story, Titanic is surprisingly potent. DiCaprio and Winslet are both fine actors, and they have an easy chemistry together. James Cameron's screenplay is deliberately paced so that we connect with them as they connect with one another. I also liked Billy Zane, who epitomizes the upper-class snootiness that made the disaster even worse (many of the lifeboats were not filled to capacity because the rich didn't want the "common" folk sitting next to them). Although Hockley is thoroughly detestable, a lot of the attitude has been ingrained in his head; he's merely acting the way he has been taught to act.
While the romance is nicely done, I don't think there's any doubt that Titanic's big draw is the disaster footage. Without a doubt, this film features some of the most realistic and spectacular special effects footage I have ever seen. More impressive is that Cameron uses the effects to enhance the story. Most movies would have the shipwreck as the center of the story, with the romance backing it up. Cameron does it in reverse, using the disaster as a way of exploring issues of love, wealth, and the class system. One of the most telling moments is a montage of the Titanic's beautiful interior being ruined. Water floods the dining room, ornamental glass is shattered, the fine china tips off the shelves and crashes to the floor. Clearly, the director has chosen the subject not for its marketability but for its human value, the idea that something so exquisite can be lost so quickly.
The movie is framed by a current-day subplot involving a Titanic scavenger (Bill Paxton) who is looking for treasure among the wreckage. Early on, he shows a computer simulation of what went wrong, step by step. This information comes in handy later on, as we watch the ship going down. The moment where the water-logged ship - one end submerged below water while the other end hangs suspended in air - splits in two is staggering in its realism. In fact, all the effects are so good, so believable that I was repeatedly hit with the horrific realization: This is true - people actually went through that! You can read all the books about the Titanic that you want, but when you see the event visualized, it boggles the mind. The disorienting fear that the passengers must have gone through is chilling to think about.
Titanic is not a perfect film, but it is a great film nonetheless. The occasional flaws are overridden by the sheer magnitude of the moviegoing experience. James Cameron is certainly one of our most innovative directors, unafraid to take risks. This time around, his risks have paid off for the audience. By taking the love story as seriously as he takes the historical tragedy, Cameron gives us one of the most kinetic, engrossing movies of the year. When I walked out of the theater, I felt drained. In a little over three hours, I met two people I cared about immensely, watched them fight for survival following a major disaster, and came to terms with the aftermath. Like I said, Titanic is an experience.
(
out of four)
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