Kate Winslet is a goddess of the screen

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2005)

Being such a popular film at the time of its release, I was skeptical whether Titanic was going to be of any worth. Over 8 years after it hit the big screen, I finally sat down and find out what all the hype was about. Titanic is a romance of epic proportions, and although we all kind of know what happens in the end, the three hours plus seemed to fly by.
The opening scenes of exploration of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean, 84 years after it sank, is intriguing footage, and Bill Paxton does well in the part of the main researcher, even though anyone really could have done the role with ease. It is when we get to main story, with a 101 year old Rose DeWitt Bukater reminiscing of her time on the Titanic, that the film really begins.
Essentially a story of love, Titanic also deals with the class system and politics of the early 1900s, with Leonardo DiCaprio being the drifting artist who comes to met the well-to-do Kate Winslet on board the ship. From there on, it's business as usual: Winslet's character Rose is smitten by DiCaprio's Jack Dawson, but is to marry another, a well-off man named Caledon Hockley, played exceptionally well by Billy Zane. Rose and Jack fall in love, Zane finds out and seeks vengeance  it's all been done before. What makes this film unique is the setting of the story: the Titanic on its first  and last  voyage from England to America. Lives are lost but love is not, and it this eternal love that is depicted in the film that resonates with the audience. The true highlight of the film is Kate Winslet, with a traditional beauty, ideal for the role of Rose. She is stunning to watch, engages you in a trance with those round eyes, full lips and perfect body, straight out of a Renoir painting. I couldn't take my eyes off her! Titanic does not falter, with a great mix of drama and romance, along with insight into the way of thought back in those days. The film is dramatized for effect  it looked like a lot more that 1200 odd people in the water  but that's expected for a big blockbuster of a flick, and so I didn't hold it against James Cameron, who fulfilled his need to tell the story of an amazing adventure that did, in fact, happen not so long ago, and history always helps to captivate viewers.