Sinking Feeling

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 1998)

Depending on what crowd you're a part of, it may be cool to your friends to like *everything* that is popular without forming your own opinion. Or, conversely, it might be cool to *hate* everything popular without thinking about it. This seems to be the basis of most amateur reviews of Titanic I 've read. The truth is that this is a terrific film which emotionally chronicles the death of 1500 people on a doomed luxury liner. Every movie needs a plot, though, or the fantastic last third of the film would have no meaning. I am not a particular fan or detractor of either Leo, Kate, or James, but all three work their professions to perfection. Jim writes and directs the film with real feeling and intelligence, and only in the movies is dialogue also perfect. There is never any confusion as to what is going on at any moment, and Leo and Kate both give outstanding performances as the doomed lovers. The historical characters are cast with uncanny resemblance (especially E. J. Smith), and the effects are so perfect that you hardly realize that what you're looking at is not real, and probably wouldn't know if you hadn't been told. Horner's soundtrack is at first wondrous, and becomes haunting as Titanic's fate is sealed. My only bone is that Cameron doesn't know port from starboard. The bottom line is that this is one of few films I've seen where the fate of the characters is of utmost importance to the viewer. You know Kate survives the wreck, and Kathy Bates as well, but what about the rest. These characters have the feeling of being real, breathing, men and women, and for good reason: many of them *were*. This is not a tragedy that belongs in a pop culture tug of war. I've seen the film only twice, and have been moved both times. And perhaps the best thing about historical dramas like this is best summed up in Hitchcock's own view on suspense. When the viewer knows the potential outcome, but the characters don't (Hitchcock explained it as two men at a table discussing baseball, while only the viewer is privy to the fact of a bomb ticking beneath the table). Titanic is a marvelous film, and the budget, politics, etc, involved in the Hollywood aspect of this memorable masterpiece are moot. If the film had not won an Oscar, it would still be among the five best films in the 100 year history of cinema.