Titanica (1992) Imax Corporation documentary directed and produced by Stephen Low. 40 minutes (a 94 minute version is also in circulation). NR, 3.5 (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com/film/ Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott
This 40 minute Titanic is a beautiful, eerie piece of work, plunging 12, 500 feet beneath the unforgiving waters of the North Atlantic to examine the remains of the doomed ship. After seeing James Cameron's epic, gazing at the real thing becomes even more chilling.
The camera glides silently through the watery depths, capturing ghostly images: dinnerware strewn over the ocean floor, the remains of the steering mechanism of the captain's wheel, J.P. Morgan's cabin. For me, the line between fiction and reality blurred for just a moment, as I caught myself scanning the sandy sea bottom looking for Rose's necklace.
Intercut with the remarkable deep sea footage are vintage photographs of the ship and an interview with Eva Hart, who was 7 years old when her father placed her in the lifeboat and said "Be a good girl, hold mummy's hand." She never saw him again.
Eva's commentary is memorable. "I was calm until I saw the ship sinking and heard the people screaming," she explains in quiet tones, "I remember everything." Sitting in her English garden, the elderly woman reflects on the ship billed as unsinkable, saying "Mother thought to call it unsinkable was flying in the face of the Almighty."
Hart was worried when she heard about the 1985 discovery of the wreckage, fearing the site would be looted. Two years later it was. "They robbed a grave," she says, "The IMAX Titanic expedition weren't going down to plunder it. I think it's splendid."
The documentary is splendid as well. Commentary from a salty Russian expedition member adds welcome humor while maintaining the dignity such an excursion demands. Even in the huge theater, you feel a bit claustrophobic watching the two small submersibles fighting the incredible deep sea pressure as they head for the ocean floor. The photography is stunning, amazingly well-lighted and so clear that in some scenes it's difficult to remember that there is water between the camera and the remnants of the ship.
The film ends with an appropriate and touching gesture, as the crew leaves a bundle of flowers on the ocean floor, "for the children of Titanic." Like "Titanic," "Titanica" is a thoughtful remembrance of the lives lost when mankind's reach exceeded its grasp.
© 1998 Ed Johnson-Ott
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