Titanic (1997)

reviewed by
Jun Yan


                        TITANIC (1997) 

Written and Directed by James Cameron Music by James Horner Actors: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gloria Stuart, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, and about a couple of thousands of extras and stunt people.

When the budget of this movie went seriously over the expected number, its creator Jim Cameron offered the studios (Paramount and Fox) to give up his 8 million dollar directing fee and only take the wage for the screenplay that he wrote, as he claimed, in six weeks. Well, in my opinion, he made the wrong offer. The studio should give him the directing fee, but take away his writing fee, and even maybe fine him a couple of thousand dollars for his script.

Meet Rose, 101 years old (played by Gloria Stuart), brought onto a Russian submarine by the treasure hunter played by a blond Bill Paxton, to discuss the whereabouts of a huge diamond neckless, said to be lost in the famous tragedy of the sinking of Titanic 84 years ago. Rose, then 17, went through physical and emotional heaven and hell, and lives to tell her story on that "unsinkable" ship which sank during its first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The story unfolds through old Rose's narration.

Meet the young Rose (played by Kate Winslet), unhappily engaged to Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), the heir of a billionare. The first sight of her tells the audience that she is a free soul underneath the restrictive dresses. She's your typical bird in a cage, imprisoned by her snobby and greedy mother and her ignorant, arrogant fiance. She is surrounded by a bunch of evil rich people, who don't know the names of Picaso or Freud. In her desperation, she tries to commit suicide by jumping off the ship, and, sure enough, is saved by a young man of her destiny.

Meet Jack, the young guy who saves Rose from suicide. He's free-spirited, fun, brave, open, nice, and in case you still don't think it's cliched enough, he's also a poor, undiscovered but talented artist. Is there any question that Rose will be swept off her feet by this adventurous young man of lower social class, who won the ticket on Titanic from a poker game? Is there any question that she will be charmed the daylight out of her by the fun-loving, care-free, romanticized poor people living underneath the first class passengers who party all night? Is there any question on who's going to be the villains but the evil rich people in her life, who are determined to keep the lovers apart?

Like another exceptionally long film, the last year's "Hamlet". Titanic is an extremely uneven film with some genuine brilliance and some unforgivable flaws. OK, maybe there is only one hole about Titanic, but it's big enough to sink the entire ship, no matter how big it is -- The screenplay.

I had doubts about this film long before I saw it. It is difficult (no kidding) to write a teenage, first-love kind of romance, the "boy meets girl" kind of romance (Cameron's own words) and make it work. But then it's doable, as Robert Louis Stevenson had written so neatly, or as Cameron himself has done so touchingly in his earlier "Terminator" (1984). So I had hopes that it might just work. Boy was I disappointed! For two days, since I saw this film, I have been thinking just what went wrong. Could it be the much too cliched plot, borrowed from much too old romances written by the idealistic rich people of the 19th century who romanticized the poor? Could it be the incredibly shallowness of the characters, who are given as much depth as a piece of typing paper? Could it be the laughable villains, who are so cartoonish that they are hardly evil? Above all, I think it's the dialogue throughout the film, that completely wipes out its chance to become a good movie. "To me, it was a slave ship, I was being dragged to America in chains." "I'm like a tumbleweed in the wind." "It's unfair to put this burden on MY shoulders." "Promise me, you'll never give up." (like "Promise me you'll come back for me." in the "English Patient.") The ghastly lines made me cringe every time the two leading characters open their mouth. When Rose says "I was screaming inside, and nobody cares." I was also screaming inside "STOP IT!!! STOP SPEAKING!!!"

The dialogues seem to be lifted directly from a paperback romance. But it seems to be the writer's intention to be so. He says, "Jack is a 90's guy." Yet, he misses the point that being contemporary is not the same as being bland and inappropriate. So many lines, so many jokes are completely out of place that they bring out embarrassment rather than laughter. Most of the romantic words coming out of DiCaprio's mouth to express his affection are contrived, unrealistic, and even laughable. Neither in the 90s, nor the teens, would anyone speak like that, except in Danielle Steel's books. There is so much cheese in it that I almost choked on it.

Cheesy as it is, there are plenty of wonderful moments throughout the film. Almost every silent moment ranges from likable to beautiful. There is chemistry between the two leads, even though not as strong as it ought to be. When the young lovers stare at each other as she standing in the descending lifeboat, when he draws a sketch of her in nude. Yet, whenever one opens his/her mouth, the moment is ruined instantly by the unbearable dialogues. Other characters' lines are no better, and none of the character is memorable; none has enough depth to stand on its own. Over and over again, I was let down by the simplistic portrayal of the villains. Rose's mother had only one chance to develop a tiny bit of complexity, in the mean time, Rose's agony and struggle could be much more profound, yet the chance is gossly missed. There is more that one time, that depth could be given to Cal, the fiance from hell, and the writer could have at least speculate just why he is so obsessed with his disobedient Rose. But they are also dismissed. I could almost visualize how the story and dialogues could be rewritten to be better. There is nothing more frustrating than a potentially good story being told incompetently.

On the other hand, the production design of this film is nothing short of incredible. There are plenty of filmmakers can turn piles of money into mediocre visual effects, but Cameron's films are always successful in make-believes. Everything is painstakingly done to perfection. The second half of the film is filled with extremely realistic visuals. Throughout the entire film, this huge creation, the ship, and its reckage, cannot be more convincing. It looks chillingly real. So is the scene in which 1500 frozen bodies floating on the silent black sea. It is one of those powerful moments that almost make your heart stop. There are plenty of interesting fragments that border on great images, and they all contain NO dialogue.

The sinking of Titanic on screen reminds me of "Braveheart". Both films are able to explain some very complex processes. It is to the director's credit that the audience are able to follow the steps of events that happened and know how and why. The usage of computer models helps to clarify the things happened after Titanic hit an iceberg. The audience feel as if they were looking at the real footage of Titanic sinking, and knowing clearly what is going on. It is ironic that the ship becomes more interesting than any of the humans on board.

The music is very beautiful and haunting. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and powerful, perhaps the year's best. Almost every scene in this 3-hour-plus long movie would be good, if only there was no words spoken. It is a paradox for me, always, about both Mr. Cameron and Hollywood today in general -- how can so much talent, so much money and so much blood, sweat and effort be spent into a project, without spending a tiny fraction of that into writing a script with complex characters, deep (not bloated) emotions, intelligent dialogues and realistic human situation? Is it that hard? Is a good script more expensive than $200 million? Is the map to the human heart more difficult to draw than a rebuilding of the biggest ship on earth? Is human minds so deep that even those who dive into the sea where Titanic sleeps, cannot reach? Is it impossible?

If it were a silent film, if there were no dialogue at all, "Titanic" would probably get an A- from me, but as it is, it's B- to C+. I simply cannot recommend it to those who do not read paperback romance novels.

jun 

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