My Review of Titanic (1997)

 

Written And Directed by James Cameron

Rose: "It's been eighty four years."

Apologies in advance, I meant to review this one last month for it's 25th anniversary but things got in the way. However with a certain sequel from director James Cameron currently eating up the box office and this movie in question getting a cinematic re-release next month, it was time to give this one another watch.

You all know the story of the real life tragedy surrounding the Titanic and with James Cameron, there's his take on the events, coupled with a compelling fictional love story with our main protagonists - upper class society debutante Rose Dewitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and handsome steerage rogue/artist, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), and boy, is it one hell of a love story.

Told through the eyes of a much older Rose (Gloria Stuart), the story sees her younger self trapped in an engagement with tycoon Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) at the behest of her meddlesome mother, Ruth (Frances Fisher), Rose found herself in so much despair that she attempted to take her own life, until a chance intervention from Jack changed everything. From there on in, this movie depicts the connection between Rose and Jack and it's hard not to root for the pair.

Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet give some of their most career defining performances and while the pair would reunite for another project many years later, they're undeniably at their best here. Rose and Jack have one of the most iconic of love stories as they go through their differences and similarities and find themselves drawn to one another. Not even Cal, Ruth or the former's lackey Lovejoy (David Warner) can get in their way.

However for the second half of the movie, the events of Titanic itself take precedent with both Jack and Rose fighting to survive and reunite with one another. Of course when the ship does eventually sink, the love story itself came to a rather tragic end with only Rose surviving to tell the tale to both her granddaughter, Lizzy (Suzy Amis) as well as explorers, Brock (Bill Paxton) and Lewis (Lewis Abernathy), the latter providing a little comic relief.

The moving between the present day Rose telling the story and the story worked as a device as well as the subplot of Brock's quest for a certain blue diamond that Cal had given Rose as an engagement gift and that the latter had worn while posing nude for a drawing with Jack. The diamond in question was the thing that Brock wouldn't get answers for but some secrets probably are best left in the ocean.

As for the final scene where the older Rose got all the closure she needed, it's one of those scenes that never failed to bring a tear. It's a beautiful way to end this incredible film. Seriously, you'd have to be entirely devoid of any romantic bone not to be gripped by the central love story in this whole movie.

- One of my favourite performances in this movie also came from Kathy Bates as Molly Brown. I especially loved her scenes with Jack.

- The party down in steerage with Jack and Rose was another highlight in this movie. I also loved both Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) and Tommy (Jason Barry) as characters.

- Standout music: Of course it's My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion as well as the score music by James Horner for the movie.

- Chronology: April 1912 during the events of this movie along with 1996 during the present day.

Without a doubt, Titanic is one of the best movies of all time. While there might be some creative liberties taken with certain historical moments, it's a gorgeously produced film with a compelling love story, fantastic lead performances, beautiful music, impressive action sequences and so. There's a reason why this movie has become a classic. 

Rating: 10 out of 10

Save Your Lies For Court

And here's a rundown of some of the stuff I've been watching over the last fortnight.

Desperate Housewives: Okay, now that was an interesting episode. We've got seven episodes left until the series finale and they decide to kill Mike off now? Why? I've never been the biggest Mike/Susan fan but it seemed a rather cold thing to do, especially considering the ups and downs they've had during the series duration but it still made for an interesting final scene. Keeping with the interesting, there was also Orson's vendetta against Bree and Karen's attempts to kill herself, all of which are better viewing that Carlos's latest epiphany or the growing tedium with Lynette, Tom and Jane as well.

Game Of Thrones: A solid bunch of episodes we've managed to get over the last few weeks. We've had a slew of impressive new characters, Joffrey's cruelty towards Sansa intensifying and every scene between Tyrion and Cersei has been riveting to watch. Even the Loras/Renly/Margaery triangle has been interesting to watch along with Arya/Gendry's battle for survival and Melisandre giving birth to whatever that thing was in the last episode. A bit more of Daenerys would be nice though, considering how underused she's been this season but overall, the show continues to deliver in spades.

Glee: It's been an interesting two month wait and while the first two episodes haven't been amazing (Blaine's brother issues, a tribute to disco), they certainly haven't been that boring. They do feel more like an obvious build up to graduation with various people calling into question what they want to do with their lives, but highlight-wise, we had some sublime scenes with Quinn/Artie, a continued alliance with Will and Sue, an episode where Rachel didn't sing and Brittany using underhanded methods in order to point out to Santana that being famous for nothing isn't particularly good along with Mercedes/Sam finally getting it on.

Homeland: Now that was an episode. Okay, the one where we saw Brody in flashbacks bonding with a young boy and being conditioned to accept a political position but the one where Carrie nearly got blown to pieces was better. Carrie's becoming increasingly the best thing about this show and the closer she seems to get to a result, the more things seem to be going against her. Capturing Tom Walker in this one should've been a walk in the park but apparently not. I can't wait to see what the last two episodes are going to bring for the series.

Lip Service: And it's back. Like Sherlock, BBC3 decided that waiting nearly a year and a half for the second series of the Scottish drama was a great idea. On the plus side, this was a solid opening episode. I'm not keen on the Frankie/Cat/Sam triangle and I still don't like Jay as a character but overall, the episode was good. Tess's love life with the football fan Finn and her new co-stars (including bitchy Nora) are amusing and Lexy seems like she's going to be a good addition to the series, so welcome back ladies.

The Vampire Diaries: The arrivals of all the Originals and their mother en masse is certainly fun, up until a point, isn't it? I don't know why the writers are trying to soften Klaus by having him develop feelings for Caroline but I'll keep an open mind. Personally I love that Caroline continues to be progressively smarter than people expect her to be and as for Elena pitting Stefan and Damon against each other to learn Esther's true motives - I don't hate her for it, but it's still annoying to a large extent. I wish Bill's death and Abby's transformation had more of an impact but neither were on screen long enough for me to care and that's a bummer. Still the show is on fine form though.

Titanic: And so endeth this uninspired four parter. The more I think on this, the more Julian Fellowes and ITV should've just made it as a 90 minute special rather than four episodes. The repetition of scenes didn't help matters and the characters sadly didn't feel fleshed out enough to really engage. It's a bloody shame because this should've been so good and it really wasn't.

- If Ringer is picked up for a second season, the producers have promised that we will be getting less flashbacks and the consequences from the actions of Bridget and Siobhan will be addressed.
- House's final episode will be called Everyone Dies and Olivia Wilde will be one of the guest stars in it.
- An upcoming episode of Glee will deal with domestic violence while the 20th and 21st episodes will feature a body swap plot as well.
- Desperate Housewives last episode will be called Finishing The Hat and will feature James Denton, Dana Delany, Christine Estabrook and Brenda Strong.
- True Blood will feature an upcoming flashback to Alcide and Debbie as children.
- Adam Levine's character in American Horror Story will be part of a duo called The Lovers and it's a sexual role. It will be set in a criminal asylum.
- Upstairs Downstairs has been cancelled after two series but Prisoners Wives will be back for a second series of four episodes, according to the BBC.
- Carrie will be going under in Beirut and Brody will encounter a beautiful, Middle-Eastern woman in the second season of Homeland.

The Night Is Full Of Terrors

And here's a rundown of some of the things I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Desperate Housewives: Okay, the show is still operating on a nice consistency level over the last few weeks but with Julie and Porter becoming parents and having different viewpoints on it, it does seem to be something of a distraction from the main plot. I mean, should Susan/Lynette/Gabby be aware of the fact that Orson is trying to drive a wedge between them and Bree? And how much longer is Carlos going to be in rehab and why can't Renee get a better storyline than trying to solve Ben's money woes? Even Karen has gotten a rather poignant storyline now.

Game Of Thrones: The North may remember but apparently so does the rest of America too, given that the opening episode for Season 2 clocked in an impressive 6 million viewers for HBO. As openers go, this one felt more like a set up piece but an extremely well executed one with Joffrey embracing his reign, Sansa trying to tow the line, Littlefinger/Tyrion/Cersei all trying to outsmart each other, Rob and Cat dealing with practicalities of making allies and Daenerys trying to find help for her disillusioned tribe. The likes of Arya, Jon and company did feel a little left out but with the introduction of Stannis and that creepy as hell priestess, Melisandre, I have a feeling this series could be even better than the first one.

Homeland: Seven episodes in and I'm still pulled into watching this beauty of a show. It's been interesting to see both Carrie and Brody actually engage in a sexual tryst before things quickly soured between them but I can't help thinking it could've been extended a little longer. Carrie does seem to be unravelling a little over the last few episodes, which is obviously setting up a fall of sorts in time for the finale. Either way, this show is continuously gripping to watch.

Skins: The last two episodes of Series 6 have been interesting enough. Maybe there was a bit of overkill with Frankie's parental issues but at least the tedious love triangle between her, Matty and Nick is finally out of the way (she ditched them both) and Mini/Alo have become parents while Alex left Bristol as well. As a finale went, it's the best one we've had since the second series and a welcome antidote to the horrible way the fourth series ended things. I do hope the next series/specials are a good way of sending the show off in style because this was a good way of doing it.

The Vampire Diaries: This show is still excellent to watch. The last few episodes have pushed Stefan and Elena further apart, made Damon less annoying, given Alaric a mysterious new girlfriend in Meredith, have created a triangle of sorts between Klaus/Caroline/Tyler, debuted Bonnie's estranged mother, Abby and more importantly has seen the welcomed return of Elijah as well. Now if the latter can beat seven shades of crap out of Klaus, it really will be the best series ever.

Titanic: I really wanted to like this mini-series but two out of the four episodes have somewhat proven hard work. I mean, Julian Fellowes is a great writer and there's a good cast here, but on further inspection, you can't help thinking that this would've been more engaging if it had actually been commissioned as a 90 minute one-off instead of a four parter. It certainly would've helped with the pacing and despite some of the talent here, a lot of the dialogue is horribly cliched to the point where it borders on parody. Instead of dreading the ship sinking, you're almost looking forward to it, if only certain characters will meet their demise. Here's hoping the remaining two episodes are better paced.

Upstairs Downstairs: It's times like this where I was glad I caught this show on repeat rather than actually watching it on premiere. The last few episodes injected some life into proceedings with another appearance from Rose, Beryl and Harry's relationship taking off, Hallam and Agnes's marriage falling apart and Persephone's true colours being revealed but by then it was a case of 'too little, too late' for me. Even Alex Kingston as Blanche hasn't really made this series worth watching. If it gets a third run, it's unlikely I'll be watching it.

- Despite his lack of acting profile, Adam Levine has been cast in a role in the second season of American Horror Story.
- A major character will die in the third series of Downton Abbey while another couple will be starting a family as well.
- True Blood's fifth season will premiere on HBO from June 10th at 9pm.
- Supernatural is rumoured to be returning for an eighth season with a new showrunner as Sera Gamble is stepping down.
- The Fades has been axed after one series by BBC3.
- Breaking Bad's final season will be split in two, according to series star Bryan Cranston.
- Both Whoopi Goldberg and Lindsay Lohan will be appearing in upcoming episodes of Glee.

First Look: Titanic

Or as the Radio Times have aptly titled it - Drownton Abbey. Come on, it's not difficult to see where they've drawn the conclusions from. It's written by Julian Fellowes and if you took these people out of the Titanic and placed them in a certain stately home, well you can see where I'm going with this one.

For the next four Sundays, Titanic will show us the depiction of both upper class and steerage passengers fight for survival as the infamous ship and with an interesting cast featuring the likes of Linus Roache, Toby Jones, Lyndsey Marshall and Maria Doyle Kennedy, it seems like an interesting way of commemorating 100 years since the sinking of the infamous ship.

ITV Site: http://www.itv.com/titanic/
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkDwYUPeTnM
Titanic airs Sundays at 9pm on ITV1 and TV3 from March 25th.