Continues to Impress

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2012)

TITANIC, that preposterously beautiful film made in 1997 with a very young Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, James Cameron's Magnum Opus, continues to impress, especially when viewed yet again on New Year's Day 2012 - a fifteen year old film that remains one of the most impressive cinematic achievements from Hollywood. One of the many reasons it remains resonant is the manner in which the film addresses class systems - the wealthy versus the poor is a hot topic today and the film shows us why - and the extraordinary cinematic recreation of the sinking of that mighty ship.
But for many the manner in which Cameron sets the tone of the story, the reminiscence of the elderly Rose unraveling the tale to her granddaughter and crew of ship Keldysh attempting to raise the Titanic now 84 years on the bottom of the ocean and carrying that theme through the course of the film, seems more cogent today than even at movie's release. Gloria Stewart is radiant as the old Rose and her rapt audience includes Bill Paxton, Suzy Amis, Lewis Abernathy, Nicholas Cascone, and Anatoly M. Sagalevitch. From there the opulence of the 'unsinkable' Titanic unfolds and the gradual love affair between Rose Bukater (Kate Winslet) and poor artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo Di Caprio), a relationship at risk from the brewings of Rose's mother (Frances Farmer) and Rose's intended (Billly Zane). The cruise lasted from April 10, 1912 to April 15, 1912, but it was a lifetime of commitment between the young lovers.
In retrospect the performances by some fine actors who would continue to rise is of note: Ioan Gruffudd, Victor Garber, David Warner, Danny Nucci etc. The film could have used some editing to reduce the length, and the presence of the unsinkable Molly Brown (Kathy Bates in a wasted role) though historically accurate ads very little to the film and even distracts a bit. Still TITANIC is just that - titanic - and no matter how many times we see it, it never fails to impress.
Grady Harp