Titanic #83

Titanic came out in 1997, so i was either living in Seattle or had moved to Santa Ana for six months. If my memory is correct, i was living in California, but as time moves on, some things become unclear and other things become transparent.

Plot (yes, i am a romantic)

When i first saw Titanic, actually the only time i saw it until i decided to review it, i liked it a lot. It has everything a romantic could desire. There is a love story between a couple, which come from different stations in life, yet find love in a couple of days. The only difference between this love story and the usual Hollywood romantic film is, this is more on the Romeo and Juliet side of the tracks.

The film starts off with an exploration crew searching through the remains of the Titanic, which sunk after hitting an iceberg in 1912, for a jewel known as The Heart of the Ocean. They are not successful in their search for the diamond, but they do find a painting, made the night the ship sank, of a nude woman wearing the diamond. Rose Dawson Calvert (Gloria Stuart), a 100-year-old woman, hears about it, calls Brock the treasure hunter, and makes the claim that she is the girl in the painting. Rose and her granddaughter meet with Brock and the exploration team, then begins telling the tale of her adventure aboard the Titanic.

We are brought back in time to 1912, as Rose, her mother and fiancé are boarding the ship. Rose is clearly unhappy with her life.

Then we meet Jack Dawson, the boy from the wrong side of the street, a drifter and artist returning home. Jack appears happy with life.

Rose, upset with her dreary future with a man she does not love, decides jumping overboard would be better, but Jack talks her out it with his smooth words. So begins the romance. For him it was love at first sight, but she took a day or two to fall for him. Boys are more visual creatures than girls; girls need to talk more before they grow in love.

Kate Winslet loves her breast

Rose is a little indecisive at times, but Kate Winslet does an excellent acting job, so that Rose is endearing rather than irritating. Rose seems more sure after she bares her breast to Jack and the movie-going public; Kate Winslet seems to enjoy sharing her girls with the world. i bet it could be on that site, Shit Nobody Says (or something like that), “Do you think Kate Winslet will show her breast in her new film?”

Jack is carefree and in love. Leonardo DiCaprio was always better than this film and has proved many times during his career that this was a low point for him.

Half way through the film the ship hits the iceberg but maybe the film does too. i remember thinking the first time that i saw it, that the ship would not sink, but as we know from history it does sink. i think in part, i felt hopefully the first time, but 15 years later i feel sunk like the ship.

From this point on the film becomes a bit chaotic. There are so many random things that happen, some of which director James Cameron should have edited out of the film.

Spoiler alert

Billy Zane, an actor that acts a bit too theatrical, plays Rose’s fiancé Cal, goes a bit crazy and tries to shoot Jack, which at this point seems ridiculous; i would be more concerned about getting into a one of those lifeboats.

Jack eventually dies because they both could not find a piece of wood to float on until help arrived. His love proved to be the stronger of the two. She easily let him freeze to death while she waited for a rescue boat to save her. Could they have sat at opposite ends and floated to safety, together?

Old Rose drops the Heart of the Ocean into the ocean. Why? Why did she keep it all those years, then drop it? She could have sold it on E-bay and then helped some homeless people or some kids in Afrika. She was a bit selfish if you ask me.

  

Hit song

At the end of the film we are finally able to hear the complete song from one-hit wonder Barbra Streisand wannabe Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On“, cue the tears and roll credits. i like the song, but she does sound a bit like a chipmunk singing an Enya song.

ocean score

My score for Titanic: 3 1/2 out of 5, as i wrote earlier i am a bit of a romantic, even though i only romance myself. If the film had been a little shorter and cut out the over acting of Billy Zane, then it could be 4 1/2.

Please leave me a comment of your point of view.

more to come…