The deep waters of Memory will never sink the fascination for Titanic

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 1999)

Many critics (like the one in NBC, who got to the point of showing a cartoon with a ship sinking into the waters of failure), seemed certain that we would watch a new Titanic tragedy: overbudgeted, late release, etc... James Cameron never seemed to be one those men who dream of doing something no one dares doing and keep that dream alive...He never looked to be a dreamer. That´s the problem with most people, and directors and writers, nowadays. But...wow, was I wrong. He had a dream, he awaited the opportunity...and he did it.
This Titanic movie has a greek tragedy dimension to it and also an epic proportion that most Titanic TV movies and Hollywood movies do not.
You can´t help but feel very close to the characters, irrespective of their being historical or fictional. The soundtrack and the acting achieve something that, together with camera positioning and ship and costumes details, has put behind every documentary and film ever done on great disasters in History. Maybe someday, someone will try something similar with Pompei, or the Zeppelin...I doubt it.
The storyline is too simple, but mr. Cameron had his hands on too much material (the abyss between upper classes and lower classes, the characters' final struggle, the replic of Titanic, the tragedy itself) to pay more attention to the plot. So, it´s predictable. So what?
Unless you´re dead or you belong to a particular kind of person that considers feelings and the sense of loss something unimportant and unworthy of movie camera´s focus , you can´t help but go along with the character´s plight and fears... With good acting, good special effects, marvellous soundtrack, historical details...how can´t I put myself in the position of those 1600 people or so who lost their lives? Going through the movie, reaching the finale, I began thinking "What if it was me, in Jack´s place, or the captain´s place, or the men and women below decks, or the men in the machine rooms?"
The final scene of Titanic is a deserved and beautiful homage paid to those who survived those who die. It´s poetic and sweet, and somehow puts the souls of those who saw the movie at peace with History. Sometimes, Nature, the Cosmos, God, puts us to the test, and one of those tests took place in 1912. Beautiful and moving motion picture. Maybe it deserved another posture from Cameron at the Oscar Ceremony. Maybe Di Caprio deserved to be nominated... Great Titanic.