Newsgroup: it.arti.cinema
Titolo: Recensione di Titanic del mio critico preferito

Titanic (1997)
                                   reviewed by
                               James Berardinelli
 TITANIC (1997)
     A Film Review by James Berardinelli
     RATING: **** OUT OF ****
     United States, 1997
     U.S. Release Date: 12/19/97 (wide)
     Running Length: 3:14
     MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mayhem, nudity, sex, profanity, mild 
           violence)
     Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
         Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates,
Frances Fisher,
     Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, David Warner Director:
James Cameron Producers:
     James Cameron, Jon Landau Screenplay: James Cameron Cinematography:
Russell Carpenter
     Music: James Horner U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
         Short of climbing aboard a time capsule and peeling back eight
and one-half decades,
     James Cameron's magnificent TITANIC is the closest any of us will
get to walking the decks
     of the doomed ocean liner. Meticulous in detail, yet vast in scope
and intent, TITANIC is the
     kind of epic motion picture event that has become a rarity. You
don't just watch TITANIC,
     you experience it -- from the launch to the sinking, then on a
journey two and one-half miles
     below the surface, into the cold, watery grave where Cameron has
shot never-before seen
     documentary footage specifically for this movie.
         In each of his previous outings, Cameron has pushed the special
effects envelope. In
     ALIENS, he cloned H.R. Giger's creation dozens of times, fashioning
an army of
     nightmarish monsters. In THE ABYSS, he took us deep under the sea
to greet a band of
     benevolent space travelers. In T2, he introduced the morphing
terminator (perfecting an
     effects process that was pioneered in THE ABYSS). And in TRUE LIES,
he used digital
     technology to choreograph an in-air battle. Now, in TITANIC,
Cameron's flawless
     re-creation of the legendary ship has blurred the line between
reality and illusion to such a
     degree that we can't be sure what's real and what isn't. To make
this movie, it's as if
     Cameron built an all-new "Titanic", let it sail, then sunk it.
         Of course, special effects alone don't make for a successful
film, and TITANIC would
     have been nothing more than an expensive piece of eye candy without
a gripping story
     featuring interesting characters. In his previous outings, Cameron
has always placed people
     above the technological marvels that surround them. Unlike film
makers such as Roland
     Emmerich and Dean Devlin, Cameron has used visual effects to serve
his plot, not the other
     way around. That hasn't changed with TITANIC. The picture's
spectacle is the ship's
     sinking, but its core is the affair between a pair of mismatched,
star-crossed lovers. 
         TITANIC is a romance, an adventure, and a thriller all rolled
into one. It contains
     moments of exuberance, humor, pathos, and tragedy. In their own
way, the characters are all
     larger-than-life, but they're human enough (with all of the
attendant frailties) to capture our
     sympathy. Perhaps the most amazing thing about TITANIC is that,
even though Cameron
     carefully recreates the death of the ship in all of its terrible
grandeur, the event never eclipses
     the protagonists. To the end, we never cease caring about Rose
(Kate Winslet) and Jack
     (Leonardo DiCaprio).
         "Titanic" sank during the early morning hours of April 15, 1912
in the North Atlantic,
     killing 1500 of the 2200 on board. The movie does not begin in
1912, however -- instead, it
     opens in modern times, with a salvage expedition intent on
recovering some of the ship's
     long-buried treasure. The expedition is led by Brock Lovett (Bill
Paxton), a fortune hunter
     who is searching for the mythical "Heart of the Ocean", a majestic
56 karat diamond which
     reputedly went down with the ship. After seeing a TV report about
the salvage mission, a
     101-year old woman (Gloria Stuart) contacts Brock with information
regarding the jewel. She
     identifies herself as Rose DeWitt Bukater, a survivor of the
tragedy. Brock has her flown out
     to his ship. Once there, she tells him her version of the story of
"Titanic"'s ill-fated voyage.
         The bulk of the film -- well over 80% of its running time -- is
spent in flashbacks. We
     pick up the story on the day that "Titanic" leaves Southampton,
with jubilant crowds cheering
     as it glides away from land. On board are the movie's three main
characters: Rose, a young
     American debutante trapped in a loveless engagement because her
mother is facing financial
     ruin; Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), her rich-but-cold- hearted fiancé;
and Jack Dawson, a
     penniless artist who won his third- class ticket in a poker game.
When Jack first sees Rose,
     it's from afar, but circumstances offer him the opportunity to
become much closer to her. As
     the voyage continues, Jack and Rose grow more intimate, and she
tries to summon up the
     courage to defy her mother (Frances Fisher) and break off her
engagement. But, even with the
     aid of an outspoken rich women named Molly Brown (Kathy Bates), the
barrier of class
     looms as a seemingly-insurmountable obstacle. Then, when
circumstances in the
     Rose/Cal/Jack triangle are coming to a head, "Titanic" strikes an
iceberg and the "unsinkable"
     ship (that term is a testament to man's hubris) begins to go down.
         By keeping the focus firmly on Rose and Jack, Cameron avoids
one frequent failing of
     epic disaster movies: too many characters in too many stories. When
a film tries to chronicle
     the lives and struggles of a dozen or more individuals, it reduces
them all to cardboard
     cut-outs. In TITANIC, Rose and Jack are at the fore from beginning
to end, and the
     supporting characters are just that -- supporting. The two
protagonists (as well as Cal) are
     accorded enough screen time for Cameron to develop multifaceted
personalities. 
         As important as the characters are, however, it's impossible to
deny the power of the
     visual effects. Especially during the final hour, as "Titanic"
undergoes its death throes, the
     film functions not only as a rousing adventure with harrowing
escapes, but as a testimony to
     the power of computers to simulate reality in the modern motion
picture. The scenes of
     "Titanic" going under are some of the most awe-inspiring in any
recent film. This is the kind
     of movie that it's necessary to see more than once just to
appreciate the level of detail.
         One of the most unique aspects of TITANIC is its use of genuine
documentary images to
     set the stage for the flashback story. Not satisfied with the reels
of currently-existing footage
     of the sunken ship, Cameron took a crew to the site of the wreck to
do his own filming. As a
     result, some of the underwater shots in the framing sequences are
of the actual liner lying on
     the ocean floor. Their importance and impact should not be
underestimated, since they further
     heighten the production's sense of verisimilitude. 
         For the leading romantic roles of Jack and Rose, Cameron has
chosen two of today's
     finest young actors. Leonardo DiCaprio (ROMEO + JULIET), who has
rarely done better
     work, has shed his cocky image. Instead, he's likable and energetic
in this part -- two
     characteristics vital to establishing Jack as a hero. Meanwhile,
Kate Winslet, whose
     impressive resume includes SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, HAMLET, and JUDE,
dons a
     flawless American accent along with her 1912 garb, and essays an
appealing, vulnerable
     Rose. Billy Zane comes across as the perfect villain -- callous,
arrogant, yet displaying true
     affection for his prized fiancé. The supporting cast, which
includes Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton,
     Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill (as "Titanic"'s captain), and David
Warner (as Cal's
     no-nonsense manservant), is flawless.
         While TITANIC is easily the most subdued and dramatic of
Cameron's films, fans of
     more frantic pictures like ALIENS and THE ABYSS will not be
disappointed. TITANIC has
     all of the thrills and intensity that movie-goers have come to
expect from the director. A
     dazzling mix of style and substance, of the sublime and the
spectacular, TITANIC represents
     Cameron's most accomplished work to date. It's important not to let
the running time hold
     you back -- these three-plus hour pass very quickly. Although this
telling of the "Titanic"
     story is far from the first, it is the most memorable, and is
deserving of Oscar nominations not
     only in the technical categories, but in the more substantive ones
of Best Picture, Best
     Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
     Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
     - James Berardinelli
     e-mail: 
bera...@mail.cybernex.net
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     deep down into the dark rooms of our souls"
     - Ingmar Bergman
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                                James Berardinelli
Berardinelli e' un grande, ma io tifo sempre per Mark R. Leeper ^_^
Pensa che tempo fa avevo fatto un'articolo per Zeta sui critici storici
dell'IMDB, ma me l'hanno rifiutato :^(
IT: Da 1 a 10 Scott Renshaws: 9

 dell'IMDB, ma me l'hanno rifiutato :^(
ehehhe, quelli di Zeta sono delle seghe. Su PcGamer di febbraio 1000
battute sull'IMDB ce le ho infilate ;-))

 battute sull'IMDB ce le ho infilate ;-))
Azz, la concorrenza! Urge correre ai ripari ^_^
IT Da domani, cinema su ZETA

 IT Da domani, cinema su ZETA
argh! presto, renzo, ti compro i diritti di Titanic si' Titanic no!