...for all its drama, it is intimate and passionate, too.
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James Cameron's 1997 epic, "Titanic," is the biggest box-office attraction of all time. It garnered eleven Academy Awards, including Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Sound, Song, Music, Costumes, etc. So, is it the best movie ever made? Of course not. Is it worth buying on DVD, even if you've already got it on VHS tape? Certainly.
I admit I am not as smitten by it as most people, but there is no questioning the film's passion and excitement. It spite of its excessive length, it is a movie worth repeat viewing, as folks who have watched it time and again will tell you.
The plot is divided into two parts, almost two separate movies, which helps account for its three-and-a-quarter hours duration. In part one a poor boy named Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), who wins his ticket aboard the big boat in a poker game, and a rich girl named Rose (Kate Winslet), who is engaged to an arrogant snob (Billy Zane), fall in love, Romeo and Juliet style. In part two the boat sinks. Romance and spectacle: What more could you want?
The framework for the movie involves Winslet's character having survived the disaster and now an elderly lady telling her story to the crew of a salvage ship headed by Bill Paxton. The older Rose is admirably played by a leading actress of the 1930s, Gloria Stuart. (She is made up to look even older than she is and practically steals the show.) However, by having her relate her story in flashback, it reduces any suspense about her character's fate. No matter. We already know going in what will happen to the ship; why not know what will happen to the main character as well?
But for all its plot machinations and audience manipulation, the story succeeds. By the close of my third viewing and knowing full well everything that was going to occur, I could still not help being moved. The ship's string quartet playing "Nearer, My God To Thee" as the boat is going down is heart wrenching every time. As is the ending, which tends to go on and on but tugs us in all the right directions.
It's an amazing feat that a film so long, with characters who don't exactly light up the screen like Gable and Lombard, can sustain our attention so well. The romance is affecting, the shipwreck stunning, and the emotions high. As I say, it works.
Video:
There was much talk at the time of the film's release on videotape about why the DVD version was being postponed. Cameron was said to have wanted a widescreen version on one side of a disc and pan-and-scan on the other, necessitating two dual-layered sides. This was not to be. What we have is only the widescreen version on a single side. Nor did Paramount include any extras after all this time. Hard to understand the delay, you know? Well, water under the bridge.
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[release]2640[/release]