THE
MOVIE
Titanic the movie opened on
19 December '97 to a worldwide interest that carries on until today, some
4 months later. . . Tickets sales surged and for weeks, Titanic hogged
the box offices as the No. 1 show....Till present day, some cinemas still
report a full house for evening shows while Titanic souveneirs saw a strong demand....People
were buying up the posters, pieces of coal belonging to the real ship as
well as the cups and sauces used in 'Titanic' the movie. . . . .Even the
soundtrack hit No.1 on the Billboard charts, ironically toppling Celine
Dion's Let's Talk About Love. What is it about Titanic that had created
such hype and publicity and raised the popularity of its stars, Leonardo
DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, to cult status? Here, we check out the movie
to see why it keeps bringing the people back to the cinema, once, twice.
. . .maybe even a third or fourth time!
The story of Titanic is well known
as one of the worst catastrophes of the 20th century, one where Man's arrogence
and pride were dealt a heavy blow. . . .In the movie, while as close a
copy to the actual events is paintakingly made, a fictitious love
story between a 3rd class steerage passenger and an upper class socialite
takes centrestage.
Rose (Kate Winslet) a 17 year
old first class passenger is taken on board the Titanic by her Fiance,
Carl Hockley (Billy Zane), to America where their wedding is supposed to
take place. However, beneath her stiff upper class behaviour, Rose is a
total wreck. She yearns for a freedom and love that Carl is unable to give
her and her rebellious antics are all dismissed off lightly. Unable to
see a future in her new life, Rose attempts suicide off the stern of the
ship, resulting in her chance meeting with Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio),
a steerage passenger who won his ticket on the Titanic 'through a lucky
hand at poker'. It begins a tragic but meaningful relationship for Rose
who discovers not only the freedom that she yearns so badly, but also true
love . . . .
The jealous Carl tries ways and
means to break the bond between Jack and Rose but only serve to bring them
closer. . . .In fact, in a twist to the story, Jack and Rose are indirectly
blamed for the sinking of the ship. In a scene where they try to outrun
one of Carl's men and end up on the deck, the 2 men on the crow's nest
spot the couple kissing and fail to see the iceberg, which causes serious
damage to the lower decks on the ship. Though told by the ship's engineer,
Thomas Andrews, to "take all her loved ones and leave on the nearest lifeboat",
Rose remains true to her love and refuses to board the lifeboat without
him . . . . " You jump, I jump, remember?"
A memorable scene is the sinking
of the ship, which is done very meticiously and the graphics are very good
. . . .It is like as though the filming was done at the actual sinking.
The horror of the thousands condemned to die in the sinking, how they try
to save themselves even in the face of death, hoping to survive miraculously
are 're-lived' in film and graphics for all of us to see and hopefully
realised the tragedy that took place on that fateful April 12, 1912.
Even as the ship sinks, Jack
tries to keep Rose's spirit up and provides the pillar for her fears and
insecurities. As they float in the freezing waters of the Atlantic
ocean, Jack saves Rose a second time, this time, sacrificing his own life
as he makes the tough decision to place her on the only floating wooden
board in the sea, despite knowing the fate that awaits him if he remains
in the icy waters. There, as they lay afloat, waiting for an absolution,
Jack makes Rose take a final vow, one that promises she will go on, live
past the present and the near future, no matter what happens. Though Rose
promises Jack that she will go on, I do not think that she was counting
on going on without him, a fate she realises when she wakes up later, amidst
voices from a returning lifeboat only to face the cold, frozen body
of Jack, who had died from freezing in the icy cold waters of the ocean.
Rose, in utter despair, almost gives up on herself, the only thing holding
her back being her promise to Jack. Reaffirming her promise, Rose then
releases Jack's body into the dark waters and manages to attract the attention
of the people on the lifeboat and is one of the 6 people saved.
The story concludes with us being
brought back to the present where Rose, makes her way to the stern of the
salvage ship and casts the diamond into the sea. that night, she dies in
bed, fulfilling the words that Jack had once told her, that she would 'die
an old lady, in her bed . . . .and not here and now . . .' We are
left with a scene where Rose is reunited with Jack on the Titanic, where
they will be go on forever . . .
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