Titanic

"I am the king of the woooorld". "Do you trust me?". "I'll never let go".

I was 10ish when Titanic came out firts, in 1997. The frenzy around this movie was so high: the actors, the director, the technical innovations, the soundtrack, everything was everywhere and everyone was quoting it (and still is). 3D version has been out for a while now and the hype has been quite high again.

I was very young, maybe too young, to catch the intensity of this love and the purpose of this movie. Yet, I never changed my mind over the years: to me, this movie sucks. A lot.

The plot. I must confess I never watched it again, at least not the whole thing, despite the fact they show it on TV every year. I may watch the beginning, which is actually quite cool. The social disparity, the dreams, the saving each other, the falling desperately and madly in love; and then the costumes, the lights, the close-ups. So far so good. As soon as they hit the ice-berg, I cannot bring myself to continue watching. I know that that is a real tragedy lived by over a thousand people, desperate for surviving. Yet, I think that the way in which this movie chooses to portray it is just wrong. 

The scheme. Here is why it is wrong. The focus on Kate and Leo makes it all so much worst. They were so happy, so ready to live their love forever and to the fullest, so perfect in their world, finally fitting; and in a matter of seconds everything changes and goes to pieces. The tragedy of the Titanic could have been told as an historical movie, with detachment; or as a mash-up of stories from different people, so as to reduce the anxiety and the grief of seeing these two people losing it all. The thing is that the real tragedy is cannibalized by the anxious excitement of seeing these two trying to make it through and going up and down, back and forth to overcome the (improbable?) obstacles that a very cruel destiny throws at them. I mean, being on a sinking boat is bad enough without having to be chased and chained and trapped and all. And why couldn't she make space for him on that freaking piece of wood??

The music. Geesh the music is so cheesy. Perfectly tuned with the rest of the movie. I usually like shower songs: you know, those songs that you can sing (badly if, like me, you can't sing) at the top of your voice and making an intense face with a brush in your hands. However, Celine's "My Heart will go on " is way too much (again, just like the rest of the film) and it has been for too long. 

Few good things. I remember a few good scenes about this movie. One is that of the mother sparing, somehow, the tragedy to her children by putting them to bed with the usual lullaby. The other is that of the elderly couple laying together on the bed, united forever. Both these scenes portay, with delicacy and dignity, the choice of people deciding that it is easier to die. 

All in all, I think that this movie is bad because it is restless and adds unnecessary drama to a tragedy that does not need more. However, I must say that, love it or hate it, this movie hits. 

Director: James Cameron

Writer: James Cameron

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane