confession time : i have never , ever seen gone with the wind .
i do n't know why , really . have n't wanted to check it out on video , have n't been at home the nights it was on network tv , and it was too far to drive the last time it was on the big - screen .
so right up front , i 'll admit that i do n't know what the heck
i 'm talking about , but here goes . . .
is titanic the gone with the wind of the 1990 's ?
maybe that 's going a little bit too far .
as good a job as leonardo dicaprio and kate winslet
do in this movie
, they 're no clark gable and vivien leigh .
but . . .
the parallels are there .
gwtw was the first movie to take real advantage of the most revolutionary technology available -- technicolor .
titanic takes revolutionary steps forward in seamlessly integrating computer graphic design with actors .
gwtw places america 's greatest tragedy in the background of a classic love story , titanic does the same with the atlantic 's most legendary tragedy .
they both have strong - willed redheaded heroines , they both exploit the class differences between the aristocracy and the slaves / steerage bums , they were both incredibly expensive and popular . . .
ok , maybe that 's not enough parallels .
so titanic 's not in gwtw 's league .
no matter .
titanic is a great movie in its own right , complete with spills , thrills and ( especially ) chills .
much has been made of the humongous cost of the production , and all of the care than went into making the huge luxury liner come alive again .
the money was obviously well - spent .
the costumes look great , the sets look great , the cgi graphics look great .
i especially liked the expensive little touches , like spending tons of money on authentic titanic china only to break it all on the floor as the ship sinks .
but writer / director / producer james cameron 's real challenge in writing / directing/ producing titanic was
n't just costuming and set design and special effects .
cameron 's major headache was keeping the audience interested in a tale where everybody knows the ending going in .
he succeeds masterfully .
cameron does two things
that work incredibly well .
first , he shows us modern - day salvage operations on titanic ( that 's just " titanic " , not " the titanic " , mind you ) .
the first glimpse we get of titanic is the ship in its present state , corroding slowly away under the hammering pressure of the north atlantic , from the window of a minisub piloted by treasure hunter brock lovett ( bill paxton ) .
television coverage of the exploration of titanic intrigues 101-year - old rose calvert ( gloria stuart ) , who survived the wreck in 1912 .
stuart
does a phenomenal job in a brief role , narrating the story of her experience to a stunned paxton and his roughneck crew .
secondly , cameron keeps the storyline focused almost exclusively on the rose character , and the romantic triangle between rose ( winslet ) , her bastard millionaire fiancee cal hockley ( billy zane ) and the irrepressible young artist jack daswon ( dicaprio ) .
the way that big - budget disaster movies usually go wrong is to have an all - star cast , so we see the impact of the disaster on a wide group of people .
cameron wisely chooses to stick with rose and jack , while paying scant heed to the celebrities on board .
the supporting cast is professional , but mostly anonymous -- other than kathy bates as the unsinkable molly brown , there 's no moment when you stop and say , oh ,
yeah ,
i know him ,
what 's he been in .
( although i would like to have seen colm meaney in a white star uniform , or even as the ill - fated engineer . )
the love story itself is rather conventional .
i think some reviewers found it weak , and that may be a fair criticism .
the performances are the key here .
zane has the meatiest part in the movie , and he plays the arrogant , condescending steel millionaire to the hilt .
he 's smooth
, he looks great in a tuxedo , and he 's a convincing enough jerk that the winslet - dicaprio relationship looks plausible .
at the moment when he sees a little girl too frightened to get aboard a lifeboat , you can hear the wheels in his mind turning , saying not " can i save this little girl ? " , but " can she help me get on a lifeboat ?
" dicaprio is a revelation .
i had n't seen him before in anything , and did n't know what the heck to expect , really .
( honestly , i expected a bad irish accent , but cameron evidently decided that was a bad idea , so dicaprio plays a poor american artist who wins a ticket in a poker game . )
dicaprio exhibits an infectious joy at being alive , and being on the titanic , that it 's hard not to like him
.
from the moment that the ship leaves port until it hits the iceberg , dicaprio has to carry the movie and keep our interest , and he never falters .
winslet 's character grows up a lot during the movie , and so does her performance
.
at first , she 's not required to do anything but wear period clothing and look drop - dead gorgeous .
we know from the narration that she 's monstrously unhappy with her arranged marriage to zane , but there is n't any expression of these feelings until she encounters dicaprio .
winslet and dicaprio develop a chemistry that manages to propel the movie along until the ship hits the iceberg .
it 's at that moment where winslet 's character really comes alive .
faced with real danger , she drops her spoiled - rich - girl mannerisms and does a splendid job .
as rose and jack race around the doomed ship , looking for shelter from the freezing water and cal 's fiery temper , winslet turns in a superb acting performance , mixing courage and compassion and anger with sheer shrieking terror .
of course , the most interesting character is the ship itself .
cameron has clearly fallen in love with titanic , and shows her in every mood -- as a deserted wreck , down in the boiler room , up on the bridge , down in the hold , at the captain 's table , down in steerage -- and manages to bring the great ship back from the dead .
cameron 's greatest gift is that he allows us to fall in love with titanic as well .
Output: P