“Titanic” movie swims back in theaters 25 years late
Everyone knows the story of “Titanic.” The ship that held the stories of over two thousand people but hit an iceberg before it could complete its journey. The unsinkable ship sank. Less than half of the passengers were saved in the story that made headlines in the most unsettling way. A mix of the real story and an added heartbreaking fictional romance complete James Cameron’s 1997 movie, “Titanic.”
As the 25th anniversary of “Titanic” passed this year, it made its infamous return into theaters and viewers’ hearts as they were reminded of why this is one of the most loved movies of all time. From the realistic aspect of the ship and size for the time it was released to the romance that captivated the viewers from the very beginning, Titanic brings an emotional and heart-wrenching experience to everyone watching this classic tale.
At the original release in 1997, the computer technology and visuals were revolutionary for the time. When it was first made, the Titanic was a dream and an unrealistic fantasy. It was something that was only talked about and never experienced in real life, “the unsinkable ship”.
What makes the “Titanic” experience unique, though, is that it happens on such a heartbreaking and bittersweet level. The chemistry and emotion between Jack and Rose’s characters, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is what resonates most with a majority of the viewers of “Titanic.” The main protagonists’ connections helped the audiences to feel the love and lust between them. The many times that Rose jumped off a rescue boat to be reunited with Jack showed the true connection between them and how their relationship was overcoming their fear of drowning with the ship. After running from two opposite ends of the ship to reunite back together, Rose says the infamous line, “you jump, I jump.” This scene is one of many instances which displays the true love story between Jack and Rose, and how their love overcame all of the obstacles they faced throughout this movie. This symbolization of this line connects back to earlier in the movie when Jack says the same words to her when first suggesting that they should be together. The chemistry and romantic scenes that Jack and Rose bring to this movie connects the audience to their love story and compells movie-watchers to root for them until the very end.
Even with the fictional romantic story of “Titanic,” the real details included in the movie bring the storylines to a new level because they were accurate in the tragedy itself. The real names, depictions of passengers who were actually present on the ship and attention to detail to specific scenes in the ship bring the real life aspect that is needed in this documentary. Writers of “Titanic” spoke with real survivors of the shipwreck, and from these interviews, Margaret Brown, also known as “the Unsinkable Molly Brown” by other passengers, was able to have a large part in the movie because of her resilient attitude and successful urging for rescue boats to look for survivors in the water. Also revealed in the interviews, many survivors vividly remember the band unrelentlessly playing music as the ship sank. Near the end of the film, a scene showed the chaotic nature of the tragedy with passengers running around, boats floating away, but in the middle of the chaos is the band playing the song, “Nearer, my God, to thee.” They intended to keep the passengers calm and kept playing until the ship went down. It was a very meaningful part of the film and showed humanity and calm nature which was retained despite being in the heat of the storm.
However, some say that the film is way too long and gets boring and repetitive, spanning a total of three hours. The last hour and a half of the movie is the ship sinking, with the panic of passengers and crewmen of the Titanic scrambling. This can get repetitive since the problems are not resolved with the progressive sinking of the ship.
“Titanic” is not by any means a perfect movie, but with accompanying those flaws comes the top-notch chemistry, acting and overall depiction of this movie that can’t be denied. With the perfect mix of real life scenario and fictional love story, “Titanic” has the feeling of lust and heartbreak that connects with its viewers. Even at its 25th anniversary, “Titanic” still connects with viewers’ hearts and brings that same bittersweet feeling that was experienced back in 1997.
