probably the most popular and praised film of all time , turned out to be a primitive and predictable costume drama with a dose of social criticism .
everyone knows about the greatest and most famous shipping disaster of all time .
and the actual catastrophe is masterfully crafted by director james cameron , combining visual -and sound effects , he re-creates the frightening atmosphere of the sinking ship in the middle of nowhere .
i liked very much the emotional and brutal contrast between the first and the third classes .
while their cabin is slowly filling up with water , a mother is telling her children a fairytail — ” . . and
they lived happily ever after . . ” .
and then the ship goes down and the few survivors are left alone under the stars and the chilling air .
however , the actual disaster is happening almost at the end of the movie , while the first two hours are just beautiful sets and bad dialogues .
in the present day , the rms titanic is explored by brock lovett ( bill paxton ) , a treasure seeker looking for the coeur de la mer diamond , lost during the sinking .
somewhere inside the ship , lovett’s crew discover a sketchbook of an artist long dead .
here , in the shape of a nude young lady , is a window into the distant age of 1912 .
lovett is extremely surprised when he get’s a phone call from rose dawson , claiming that she is a model .
she is immediately helicoptered onto the vessel , and she gets the first glimpse of the fated ship in 80 years .
as the memories come flooding back , she once again becomes rose dewitt buketer ( kate winslet ) , the fianc ? e of wealthy cal hockley ( billy zane ) and daughter of ruth dewitt bukater ( frances fisher ) .
on board there are rich and poor , everyone trust in the ship’s designer ( jonathan hyde ) and her master , captain e . j .
smith ( bernard hill ) .
on board the ship , rose , unhappy and restless meets jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) – a young american artist , poor , brave and attractive .
a love story slowly emerges and the two lovers must not only experience the difference between the social classes , but also face the greatest power on earth – death .
cameron could as well have called his picture ” the never ending love ” or ” love at first sight ” , as he concentrates all his energy on the young couple , and not on the disaster itself .
the plot is anything but original and the dialogues sometimes resemble a television soap-opera .
the director doesn’t even try to overcome his empty script .
because of its primitive and predictable plot , titanic is totally depending on the visuals that truly are breathtaking .
russel carpenter’s rich , majestic and incredibly detailed cinematography is certainly award-worthy .
everything from art direction to visual and sound effects are a top notch .
but it doesn’t help much when the costumes are more convincing than the actors who wear them .
the actors are not to blame , because their characters are more like caricatures , in other words – fake .
jack is a man with many talents : he is a talented artist , handsome , brave , honest , strong , funny . . . you
name it .
he doesn’t have any dark side , he doesn’t make any mistakes , that for a second would make him human .
jack is perfect , but he is – poor .
on the other hand we have cal .
he is a bastard that treats rose as an odalisque and not as his wife-to-be .
he lacks everything jack possesses , but he is — rich .
this childish contrast between the social classes is one of those things that makes titanic nothing more than a mediocre picture .
cameron knows precisely what we want to see .
his film therefore contains certain minimums to draw an audience – attractive actors , a ” tragic love story ” , beautiful visuals ( including expensive special effects ) , a dose of social criticism , a fascinating historical event ( we love true stories ) and last , but not least – an incredible media support , which proclaimed an average picture the ” greatest film of all time ” .
on the outside titanic looks perfect , but behind that sparkling curtain of incredible visuals – is emptiness – nothing to think about .
the main weakness of this film , which ironically became its success , is simplicity .
cameron enables our basic and if you wish – primitive emotions : love , hate , fear and helplessness .
everyone understands the power of love and the threat to our beautiful couple is likewise imaginable – a sinking ship .
titanic is a typical hollywood production , totally and completely dependent on visual perfection to hide its primitive plot .
it’s a good picture , but absolutely not a masterpiece .
it’s among hundreds and thousands good films released every year , not better or worse than the average american film .