CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Titanic

Director

James Cameron

Year

1997

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Saturday, March 31, 2001

Even thou this movie has already been seen by everyone and their mothers, it is still somewhat special to me in more ways than one. You see, when it was first released, Groucho and I saw it at the same time. We were very young and had practically no experience with serious cinema. When we saw this exceptional movie we couldn’t believe what we had actually witnessed. It instantly became the “best movie we had ever seen”. But then again, as you already know, the movie started to become almost an insultingly successful one. Some people got really sick of it because of all the noise surrounding it. I was glad to stay away from all that paraphernalia. I still and will always be in love with this movie.

The story is told as a long flashback narrated by an old Rose De Witt Bukater (Gloria Stuart). She was one of the survivors of the disastrous journey aboard the “Titanic”, the ship that was known as the unsinkable. Rose (Kate Winslet) was a high society girl unhappy with her frivolous life and the fact that she was engaged to Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), a man she didn’t love at all. Then came Jack Dawson (Leonardo Di Caprio), a poor man that lived by the day and that was everything she was looking for: a free spirit. After a rather curious encounter, they fell in love. Now they would have to survive through a society that didn’t allow it and later to literally save their lives to be always together.

Clocking at a little more than 3 hours, this has to be the shortest three-hour movie I’ve ever seen in my life. The story is so compelling and well told that we don’t feel anything except what we are watching in the screen. It is a classic romance in the truest sense of the word. But the movie also works as a drama, a comedy, a thriller, an adventure, you name it. Therein lies the reason of its success. It is a movie that absorbs you and blows you away. An epic just as epics should be done.

It is amazing how even if we know what’s going to happen at the end the movie never drags. It has a wonderful script that keeps things going on. There are some quibbles here, I must say, in the way sometimes banal dialogue is spoken. But it is all so grand that you don’t care. The movie is impeccably done. From the great score by James Horner to every single technical aspect, you won’t find anything to complain about in that sense. The recreation of the sinking of the “Titanic” is shockingly real, as are the emotions we fell for this fellow people that mix fiction characters with real –life ones. Attention to detail is basic in this kind of film, and James Cameron pulled it off.

As a director, he is in top form here. Cameron realized an almost impossible task and it is shown through every single frame. His actors do help as well. Leonardo Di Caprio is excellent as the man in search of a new world and a new meaning to his life. Kate Winslet is impressive as always and gives one of her best performances to date. Simply amazing trying to cover a great deal of emotions: from unhappy to deeply in love, going through a sense of loss and fulfillment at the same time. Legendary Gloria Stuart has a brief role but an undeniable presence. And they are joined by a great supporting cast that also includes Kathy Bates, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Frances Fisher and many more.

This movie will move you in many levels. It is a great story worth to be told. A one-of-a-kind experience. Filled with wonderful sequences and unforgettable images. That first kiss, or those orchestra tunes while everything is falling apart only add up to an already magic motion picture where everything becomes glorious.

“I’ll never let go”


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