Terrific film, with an underrated screenplay.

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 1999)

I read "A Night To Remember" when I was in high school,and remember seeing the 1953 film on television (it looks hokie today but it seemed gripping when I first saw it) so I looked forward eagerly to seeing James Cameron's movie--especially when early reviews suggested it was pretty good. I expected to see a meticulous depiction of the ship itself as well as a harrowing re-enactment of the sinking. What I did not expect was to be as moved by the human story. Several people have asked why Cameron felt he had to include a fictional love story in a story about a real-life tragedy. First, the Jack-Rose love story gave the moviegoer a chance to see most of this great ship while exploring the different worlds of first-class and steerage. Secondly, and most important of all, Cameron felt that if he made you care about the fate of two fictional people,it would make the fate of the 1500 real people who died on the Titanic seem more tangible and concrete.
I can understand if a lot of people resent Leonardo DiCaprio. (In my opinion, he got too much of the credit that should have gone to Kate Winslet.) But I don't understand why people think this movie is badly written. Some of the lines do have a contemporary ring to them, but the characters are vividly drawn, and the screenplay is much better than is given credit. A beautiful example of good writing by Cameron occurs in the scene where Rose almost jumps off the stern of the ship. Jack tells Rose what it feels like to fall through thin ice and get immersed in freezing water. Not only does this serve the practical purpose of getting Rose to want to come back aboard the ship, it prepares the audience for what Titanic's victims will feel when the ship sinks. Other versions of this tragedy watch the ship from a distance and makes the audience feel they are safe in the lifeboats. In contrast, James Cameron makes the audience identify with the unlucky ones left on the ship and dying in the water. And as in Seven Samurai, because the audience recognizes and comes to know several of the passengers and crew, their deaths have all the greater impact when the ship finally sinks.