TITANIC 1997
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
3 :-) :-) :-) for James and the sinking ship
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Kathy Bates, David Warner, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart. Screenplay: James Cameron. Director: James Cameron.
This movie will be remembered as James Cameron's ultimate labour of love. With nothing denied the unborn child from conception to delivery. Described as both meticulous and a perfectionist, Cameron the doting father, has doted, doted, and doted 200 million away. Now the big fat Turkey is ready for Thanksgiving. Slaughter it and serve it with lush sauce and amaze those who are the most ready to applaud or shun the big, fat juicy bird. Fortunately, the critics and the public are pleased with the offering, and TITANIC is on its way to scooping a big mouthful of titillating praise and a big handful of golden awards. Cameron seems to have played his hand just right. Delaying the monster's release from mid-year to end-year, away from the other monster child releases ready to take away attention from his spoilt offspring.
The December winter can only be as cold as the sinking water's of the TITANIC. This will only warm the hearts of audiences as they watch enough tragic love erupt on screen to melt ice caps. Throw in fine young actors like Leornado Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, who both know how to deliver a thoughtful script and whose undeniable screen presence, transforms this otherwise ordinary disaster movie into the biggest love story of the decade. The story is central, and without it TITANIC would have been that sinking disaster SPEED 2 was. These young lovers engage us with their hopeful tale of love, which transcends social class and breeches cultural differences in order to find each other. As their love blossoms, they are faced with challenges uncommon to young couples in love. Shot, chained, trapped beneath flooded decks, only the icy waters of death itself can separate these two young lovers. Cameron knows that these characters are vital to this movie's survival, and wisely brings them to the forefront of the picture before breathtakingly sinking the big ship. That way we actually care about what happens, and in many ways separates this adaptation from the other 101 TITANIC versions of the same over told story.
There is also much else to compliment besides saying that the baby is a joy to watch. Namely, the soundtrack the vital thread of heartbeat sewing pieces of an epic together, carries with it the same breath of emotion ready to sweep you away with tears of sorrow and mirth. The costumes and sets have been lifted straight from the pages of late nineteenth century living, and neither can be faulted or criticised for the time period believability factor. Cameron has spared no expense in this department, as has exerted himself to bring the TITANIC back from the grave as realistically and gloriously as it was first envisioned. The ‘Ship of Dreams' it was called, and Cameron has had to work damned hard to make this dream come true.
My final comments are well done James. There is little to fault about this movie except that it is a long sit, and if this is my only complaint about this carefully crafted masterpiece, then I have only myself to blame for being a overtly impatient person.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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