my heart will go on...

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2003)

One of the monuments of the cinema which won 11 Oscars in Hollywood in 1998, a huge success (well deserved) all over the world. The revelation of two actors until then virtually unknown. This is James Cameron' masterpiece. He chose to relate the tragedy of the Titanic that took place on the 12th of April 1912, through the intermediary of a love story lived between a wealthy and pretty young woman (Kate Winslet) and a modest painter (Léonardo Dicaprio). Cameron succeeds in making it fascinating in the first part of the movie. The love between "Jack" and "Rose" is so strong that can hardly believe the Titanic will bump into an iceberg and will sink. It's also together with a model bravery that the two lovers will try to escape the ship's sinking (although historically accurate).
Léonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will stay among the famous mythical couples in the cinema's history. It's obvious that they are between the hands of a conscientious and carefully organized film-maker. James Cameron doesn't leave anything high and dry. He adopted a sustained rhythm not spoiled by the enormous means that he's got. It's useless to say that he masters them perfectly thanks to an important budget. Not only has this budget enabled a meticulous reconstruction of the ship but it has also enabled a reconstruction from the traditional life in 1912 with its contrasts, its oppositions. Moreover, the movie enjoys an outstanding performance from all the actors, even the minor ones and several sequences and dialogs don't lack humor.
But "Titanic" is also a limited place where takes place the confrontation of two different worlds: the proletarians and the middle-class persons. This confrontation is particularly well described during the ship's sinking: the rich are by the lifeboats whereas the poor are still inside the ship and they're forbidden to go outside.
The second part of the movie is remarkably well filmed and follows a logical advance based on the increase of fear and distress. Cameron emphasizes particularly on the madness that spread to the passengers but also on the officers. Little by little, these last ones are becoming mad (one of them will kill unwittingly one of the passengers who was trying to get into a lifeboat). Besides, a few touches make the movie surrealist (the four musicians keep on playing while the ship's sinking)
The other obvious qualities: a gorgeous music, some smart costumes. At the end, a movie that creates a deep emotion and where everything contributes to a perfect success.