Exceptional Film Making

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2006)

It is a bit late in the day for me to be offering a critique of Titanic - especially given that there are so many eloquent and knowledgeable reviews already posted here. However, I would like to offer my retrospective view of this film after having just re-watched the piece and the alternative endings on the special DVD release.
I was enthralled with Titanic when I saw it at the cinema and I was equally captivated when I watched it again on the video release. What struck me more than anything else was the sheer passion for the project displayed by director James Cameron. I had been a huge fan of Cameron and his body of work leading up to Titanic; he seems to be a filmmaker who truly understands that blockbusting, crowd pleasing cinema is just as vital and has as much integrity as small independent and more cerebral films. An unfashionable view, I guess, but blockbusters with a bit of soul are possible! Clearly Cameron invested a great deal of time, energy and resource investigating the doomed Titanic and the circumstances surrounding her demise. The lengths to which he and his crew went, to re-create events, locations and fittings faithfully can only be applauded. When you read the Goofs section here, it seems almost a shame to pick holes in an otherwise superbly crafted film. Also, let's not forget that Cameron is a truly technically innovative film maker; his early use of CGI lacks some of the seamlessness that we now expect, but back then it was truly jaw dropping.
Cameron is a director of huge quality but he is also a man that seems to divide opinion. Some people seem to hate him and cite his egotistical cry of "King of the World!" at the Oscars as justification for this (although he was clearly just paraphrasing his Jack Dawson character and letting the world know how he felt, not who he thought he was). He is also, apparently hard work on set; but let's face it, what perfectionist isn't hard work? I am one of those who think that Cameron makes fine, entertaining, spectacular and thoughtful films and he should be thanked for that.
Titanic is majestic cinema that delivers a romantic story against the backdrop of probably the most famous and resonant maritime disaster of all time. The plot is admittedly slight, but when you have the drama of the sinking of Titanic  how much plot do you need? One of the nice things about the DVD is that you can see the alternative ending where old Rose shows Bill Paxton the Heart of the Ocean diamond, which is what I really wanted to happen when I first saw the film  because the crew of the salvage vessel had some doubts about her story. I found this incredibly satisfying  so if you haven't seen it, check it out.
Overall, looking back over the decade that has passed since its first release, Titanic had stood the test of time. It is an exceptional film executed in style by a singular and forward thinking director. The only downside that I can see it that it probably exhausted Cameron and took him off in other directions  his output has been pretty woeful in the intervening years. Hopefully Avatar will be a marvel! 10/10