Titanic

The Oscars in 1998 were interesting in one specific way: seeing how many awards Titanic was going to win. In the weeks leading up to the ceremony, predictions were coming in, and while some people were in denial, predicting L.A. Confidential or Good Will Hunting was going to win, nearly everyone knew there was only one choice for the office pool: James Cameron’s behemoth tragic romance drama, Titanic. Sean Connery came out on the stage that evening with the Best Picture envelope, barely glanced at the results, then did a comical double-take just to add a bit of drama and levity to what we all already knew. Some called that year’s ceremony dull and lifeless because there was no suspense. James Cameron had the bad taste to hold a moment of silence for those who died on the Titanic, then broke it with an uproarious victory cry: “I’m the king of the world!” Billy Crystal did his best to keep things lively, and the show ran on for well longer than the movie it was honoring. This was my first time watching the Oscars since the 80s, and long and predictable as it was, it hooked me on the awards show, and I have not missed a ceremony since. 

It’s safe to say that I was drawn to Titanic much as the general audience of the day was. It was my choice for a first date with the woman I eventually married, and I ended up seeing it four times in theaters. I preordered the VHS, making sure to get a widescreen copy back before people cared about such things. For a couple of years, it was amongst my favorite films. Then some time passed. I got into classic films and burned my way through all the best picture winners. My opinions on Titanic sank, and it became the butt of jokes from people who tried to dismantle it like an undeserving object of scorn. This was further exacerbated by the release of Avatar, which was simultaneously the biggest movie of all time and the biggest target for ridicule. James Cameron had started out in low-budget horror and sci-fi, but now he was dabbling in big-budget extravaganzas that made a lot of money but stirred up intense scrutiny. Sub-groups were betting on his films to fail and gnashing their teeth when that didn’t happen. This was a big thing during Avatar: The Way of Water, but it was around for Titanic, too. 

My first knowledge of this film came from Entertainment Weekly doing an article on this film about two months before the release. Before that, my understanding of the Titanic was limited at best. This article mentioned several times how this was one of the most expensive films ever made, surpassing the train wreck that was Water World. Cameron would mention that he kept a razor blade next to his editing machine that he could access if the film sucked; a bit of gallows humor that hopefully was nothing more than that. The film needed to be more than huge just to break even. Of course, we know how that all worked out. 

Titanic is, of course, based on the real-world tragedy that happened in April of 1912. The film, however, is a fictional account of the sinking of the Titanic, centered around two opposites who find each other on that ship and enter into a romance before the tragedy strikes. Before we get to that story, though, there is the modern-day bookend that introduces us to the ship resting on the ocean floor. The research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh has sent scavenger submersibles down to the wreckage of the Titanic. Treasure hunter Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his team explore the wreckage in the hopes of finding a necklace known as the Heart of the Ocean. 

They find the safe it was supposedly kept in, but inside there is nothing but some papers and a drawing of a young woman wearing the necklace. The sketch is dated April 14, 1912, the date the Titanic struck the iceberg and sank. This drawing is broadcast on a television report where Rose Dawson Calvert (Gloria Stuart) sees and recognizes it. She contacts the research vessel, telling them that the drawing is of her. Brock arranges for her and her granddaughter/caregiver to fly out to the ship, where she tells them her story and experience onboard the Titanic. They listen in hopes of gaining a clue as to what actually happened to the lost necklace. 

In her story, Rose (now played by Kate Winslet) boards the Titanic along with her mother and her fiancé, Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), who is the heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune. Rose is set to marry Cal because her own family fortune is gone, and this marriage will ensure the family is kept in wealth, but Rose does not love him and feels this arrangement is suffocating her. This is exacerbated by his possessive nature, lack of culture, and explosive temper. 

Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an orphan from Wisconsin who has traveled the world and gets by on his wits and his sketches. He wins Titanic tickets for himself and his friend Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) in a game of poker. While on board the ship, he notices Rose and is instantly attracted to her but is dissuaded from making contact because of their separate social classes. One evening, he observes her running in a panic towards the stern. Concerned, he follows her and discovers her preparing to throw herself off the ship and into the water. He successfully talks her down, but the commotion draws a crowd who assume he was assaulting her. She lies about the details of the event, painting a picture of her slipping and being rescued by Jack, thus keeping him from being arrested. Later, she will track him down to thank him personally, and a romance begins to develop. This romance will be cut short when the Titanic strikes an iceberg, and it becomes a race against time as the ship rapidly sinks into the ocean, taking 1,500 lives with it. 

Cameron specializes in spectacle. This was the case in The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Avatar, and its sequel, and it’s true here, too. This is an amazing film to sit back and watch, not only the beauty of a fully recreated Titanic, most of which is practically done, but also the sinking, which is realized in such a way as to not only be impressive on a technological standpoint but an emotional one, too. His weakness, though, is in the character details and the dialogue. This film, like Avatar the following decade, did not get a screenplay Oscar nomination, and this was not an oversight. So much of the dialogue is rote, obvious, or anachronistic. Characters speak and act in a way inconsistent with the time period, and it was so prominent that the Hollywood screenwriters that vote for that category felt it was undeserving of recognition. 

On top of that, liberties were taken in regard to certain historical figures, liberties that offended the surviving members of one particular person: First Officer Murdoch (Ewan Stewart). When Murdoch’s nephew saw the film, particularly a scene where Murdoch fires on someone during a rush for the lifeboats, then kills himself, he objected to the portrayal, seeing it as damaging to Murdoch’s heroic reputation. To help settle the situation, Fox vice president Scott Neeson traveled to Scotland to meet with the nephew, offered a personal apology, and donated £5000 to the local high school to boost the school’s William Murdoch Memorial Prize. James Cameron also apologized for the perceived slight but stated that there were officers who acted in such a way and that Murdoch himself was not depicted as cowardly or a murderer but someone who successfully filled up many safety boats well before anyone else. Still, his depiction of Murdoch is a controversial one that many people felt didn’t do the man justice. 

Famously, James Cameron is a stickler for detail, but sometimes things do get past him. As far as I am aware, though, he has never gone back and altered one of his films other than to release an extended director’s cut. Titanic is the sole exception, though what has been altered is so minor it would be forgiven for anyone not to notice it. Neil deGrasse Tyson pointed out that a scene late in the film where Rose was looking out at the night sky as Titanic sank has an inaccurate view of the night skies for that date, time and location. Cameron, for his part, spoke with Tyson, then corrected the scene for a later rerelease. Few would have noticed the inaccuracy, but Cameron cares enough about the details that he was willing to take the time and expense to make it right. 

Many thought that Leonardo DiCaprio was slighted by not getting an Oscar nomination for this film, himself included. He is perfectly fine in this film, but looking at the other actors who were nominated in the leading category that year, he was not beating out any of them. This is a serviceable performance, but it is not a stellar performance. He has been better in other stuff that also didn’t secure nominations. Still, it would be many years before he finally managed to win an Oscar, and that one, for The Revenant, felt like the Academy was throwing him a bone after years of being passed over. 

Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart set a record by being the first time two actresses were nominated for playing the same character in the same film. Neither won, but both were worthy of the nomination. Gloria Stuart is particularly noteworthy since she had a career that began in the early 1930s before petering out in the mid-40s. She made a handful of appearances, mostly on television, before being rediscovered by James Cameron. She outshines everyone else, despite having limited screen time. Reportedly, she stole the show behind the scenes, too, with her wicked sense of humor and a habit of cursing like a sailor. 

Billy Zane comes out worst of the bunch, a product of the poor screen writing. His character, Cal, is as one-note as you get. There isn’t a redeeming feature to him from his arrogance and complete disregard for anyone but himself to his violent outbursts. There is nothing for Zane to do here but curl his lip at those around him and puff himself up. This isn’t a character; it’s a caricature and it sucks to have such a poorly conceived character in this production.

Titanic was released in the winter of 1997 and was a bonafide phenomenon. It became the film everyone had to see. It was also the focus of a minor home video controversy when some religious groups, certain members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints being the most prominent of them, were accused of altering the film to remove a nude scene to make it more appropriate for those who wanted to see it but opposed that moment. This ended up in the news for a while and was used as a reason to bash those who felt the moment was exploitative and tarnished the legacy of the Titanic. Once the film made its television debut with those scenes officially sanitized, these controversies died down. 

It’s been thirty years since Titanic first hit theaters. People forget that in those days most theaters didn’t offer presales on tickets or assigned seats. My local theater didn’t start selling tickets until thirty minutes before each showing. This meant standing in lines for hours just to get them. It was a madhouse making that happen, especially when this was a first date for me and my eventual wife. I braved the crowds and saw it opening day. I saw it again three more times over the next few months, too. But there was nothing quite like seeing it in an environment filled with excited people who had all taken the time and effort to fight the crowds and be there first. That’s something that cannot be replicated on home video, no matter how great your setup is. Once you get to that point, the weaknesses of the film begin to become more obvious, and you start to see that this isn’t a perfect movie. Still, it’s impressive to watch, especially when the ship begins to sink and it becomes a disaster film. Cameron delivers that in spades, circumventing the sometimes clumsy storytelling leading up to it. Once the ship begins to sink though, the film begins to fly. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: James Cameron and Jon Landau (won)

Best Director: James Cameron (won)

Best Actress: Kate Winslet

Best Supporting Actress: Gloria Stuart 

Best Art Direction: Peter Lamont and Michael D. Ford (won)

Best Cinematography: Russell Carpenter (won)

Best Costume Design: Deborah Lynn Scott (won)

Best Film Editing: Conrad Buff, James Cameron, and Richard A. Harris (won)

Best Makeup: Tina Earnshaw, Greg Cannom, and Scott Thompson

Best Original Dramatic Score: James Horner (won)

Best Original Song: James Horner and Will Jennings for “My Heart Will Go On.” (Won)

Best Sound: Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers, and Mark Ulano (won)

Best Sound Effects Editing: Christopher Boyes and Tom Bellfort (won)

Best Visual Effects: Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer (won)

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Release Date: December 19, 1997

Running Time: 195 minutes

Rated PG-13

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner, and Bill Paxton

Directed by: James Cameron