Titanic -one of the best movies ever
On 14th of April 1914, Titanic, the "largest
moving object built by man up to then" -
sank, together with 1,500 people, into the freezing floods of the North
Atlantic.
The sinking must have made enormous headlines,
since even my grandmother - 3 years old back then, 93 years old today
- can remember it.
James Cameron also created a gigantic piece of
work with his movie of the same title.
Trashy or romantic? Dreadful or brilliant?
There are plenty of different opinions about this movie.
Even though for some (e. g. director Robert Altman) it is the worst
movie ever,
some consider it as a piece of art.
Objectively, "Titanic" is not only the
greatest
box-office success ever - with $ 1.8m -,
it also attracted the highest number of "recidivists" among
the cinema-goers.
Besides it won 11 Academy Awards, being nominated for 14, which has
never been reached before.
"A
million flies can't be wrong?"
I know people who wouldn't watch the movie just because anybody else
was going to see it.
I know this attitude. I didn't see "Harry Potter" for
the same reason myself.
When
they launched 'Titanic' I actually watched it only because of the part
that James Cameron had shot in 70 mm from the real wreck.
That was reason enough for me. Besides:
The shooting of these original pictures alone devoured $ 2 m already.
For a German feature film that would be a lot.
There are surely several reasons for the amazing
success of the 3-hours epos:
The historical dimension of the
plot:
The sinking of Titanic in the early 20th century
was a psychological trauma for society,
similar to S-11 for today's western world.
I believe a Hollywood movie about the events of S-11 would probably
have people going to the cinemas in droves.
The technical
implementation:
"Titanic"'s
production was a battle of material worth $ 200 m:
The material from the 163-day-shoot had a total length of 12 days
(400,000 m x 70 mm)
17 special-effects companies were involved in the post-production.
Unlike many other movies, "Titanic"'s special effects were
worth the money!
The story:
The story contains plenty of elements that appeal
to the public:
On the one hand the dramatic events that surrounded Titanic's fall,
on the other hand a love story of "Jack und Rose" that reminds
us of "Romeo und Juliet".
Finally the comforting message that even stinking rich people can loose,
and that money can't buy love,
and that money alone can't make you happy -
all the things not-so-well-heeled people like to be reminded of.
This is especially true for the following scene.
Jack is invited to a 1st-class dinner.
He meets Rose's mother Ruth, who despises him and shows him up as a
3rd-class passenger:
waiter
to Jack: |
How
do you like your caviar, Sir? |
Jack: |
No
caviar for me, thanks, never did like it very much. |
Ruth: |
And
where exactly do you live, Mr Dawson? |
Jack: |
Right
now my address is the RMS Titanic, after that I'm on God's good
humour. |
Ruth: |
And
how is it you have means to travel? |
Jack: |
I
work my way from place to place. You know, tramp steamers and such.
But I won my ticket on Titanic here at a lucky hand at poker. A
very lucky hand. |
Archie:
(a passenger) |
All
life is a game of luck! |
Cal:
(Rose's fiancé) |
A
real man makes his own luck, Archie. Right, Dawson? |
Jack: |
Hm! |
Ruth: |
And
you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you? |
Jack: |
Well,
yes, ma'am. I do. I mean ... Got everything I need right here with
me. Got air in my lungs and a few blank sheets of paper. I love
waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen. Or who
I'm gonna meet, where I'm gonna wind up. Just the other night I
slept under a bridge. Now here I am on the grandest ship in the
world having champagne with you fine people. I figure life's a gift
and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you're
gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you,
to make each day count. |
Molly: |
Well
said, Jack! |
Archie: |
Hear
hear! |
|
[Rose
raises her glass and glances at Jack:] |
Rose:
|
To
making it count! |
(all:)
|
To
making it count! |
Use of the music:
The title song is a catchy tune and accompanied
us for about a year
just like the eulogies for multi-functional saws in the DIY stores.
I have to admit, the music's great. And more than that:
Music and pictures match perfectly.
Examples:
The moment when Rose raises her head and looks at Titanic for the first
time
is emphasized by a musical accent.
The
off-camera voice of the elderly Rose says:
"Outwardly I was everything a well brought-up girl should be, inside
I was screaming."
This is followed by a cut to the funnel and the roaring horn of the
ship symbolizes Rose's scream.
Dolphins swimming in the lead of Titanic jump in
and out of the water in tune with the music.
While Jack is drawing Rose, his eye movements are
being dubbed with music from the piano.
The emergency rockets are fired in synch with the
music.
The movie ends with the elderly Rose dreaming of
a reunion with her Jack,
followed by the title song performed by Céline Dion,
Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you ...
... which, after all, keeps you watching
voluntarily the credits for the entire 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
The pictures:
Even with the "photography" of the movie James
Cameron thinks big.
However, when the two of them kiss each other for the first time on
the ship's bow
at sunset, he layed on romance with a trowel.
People who find drawings of Caspar David Friedrich
(1774 - 1840, remarkable artist of the Romantic movement) trashy,
will consider the romanticism in the movie as too much of a good thing.
I simply think it's "beautiful".
The man of action:
James Cameron is a relentless perfectionist with visions.
He once said:
"There will always be 20 bean-counters and 20 logicians standing
around
waiting to tell you why you can't do something. It doesn't mean you
can't do it."
James Cameron wrote and directed the movie.
When the film's cost became excessive he gave back his profit participation.
Rather renounce some money than compromise, what a gorgeous attitude!
(Though Cameron eventually got a financial happy ending
as well:
As a compensation for giving up his profit arrangement
20th Century Fox voluntarily offered Cameron $100m later on.)
You can't help holding Cameron's performance as a whole
in reverence.
Those who criticise the movie, without proving that they could
create something remotely similar,
are only bad losers.
I bow to one of the world's greatest movie-makers ever ...
The hype
There was the same Titanic-hype like with the dinosaurs earlier on and
with Harry Potter now.
Obviously the movie can do without any further publicity, that's why
copyrights owners
can write unfriendly rebuffs to friendly inquiries:
Dear
Mr. von Aichberger:
Thank
you for your request dated April 24, 2002 about licensing material
from Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation ("Fox").
Fox has reviewed your request and does not approve your use of
any Fox copyrighted materials. In addition, you are not allowed
to publish screenshots from the DVD. Because this decision was
made based upon internal, and thus confidential, Fox policy, we
are not at liberty to discuss the details of the decision. Please
rest assured however, that your request was given serious and
thoughtful consideration. Please fax any future requests to the
Clip Licensing department at (310) 369-4647.
Thank
you again for your interest in Fox properties and good luck with
your project.
Sincerely,
Deborah M.
|
Upon request Deborah
M. informed me that
Per
the Fox Clip Licensing Department, we have no objection to your
using the "official Titanic banners" available on "www.titanicmovie.com"
for your homepage. |
So, here it
is, the Official Titanic Banner:
Titanic
Official Homepage: www.titanicmovie.com
Internet movie data base: www.imdb.com/Title?0120338
(rating: 7.0/10)