Titanic (1997)

 

Titanic - 1997

Probably the most romantic film of all time is 1997's "Titanic", a story of forbidden love on board the sole voyage of the fabled ship that was deemed unsinkable.

The film's cast includes Leonard DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, Victor Garber, Suzy Amis, Lewis Abernathy, Ioan Gruffudd, Bernard Fox, and Ron Donachie.

In 1996, underwater explorer and treasure hunter Brock Lovett is searching for something amongst the wreck of the fabled ship Titanic.

He's looking for a necklace called "The Heart of the Ocean", which was supposed to have been on the Titanic.  While he doesn't find the necklace, he does find a drawing of a woman wearing the necklace.  His findings are broadcast on news programs all over the world.

A very old woman named Rose Calvert contacts Brock and tells him that she's the woman in the drawing.  Brock has Rose and her granddaughter brought to his research vessel in an effort to find out her story.  Once she arrives, Rose is shown some things that have been recovered from her stateroom.  She stares transfixed at the objects.

She is shown a simulation of what happened to the ship on the night of its sinking.  The man explaining it to her is less than tactful about it and pretty graphic in his description.  "Thank you for that fine, forensic analysis, Mr. Bodine.  Of course, the experience of it was...somewhat different," says Rose.

Rose is ready to tell her story.  "It's been eighty-four years, and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used.  The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was.  It really was," she begins.

She arrived at the dock at Southampton as Rose DeWitt Bukater, a first class passenger on the newly minted luxury liner.  She had been traveling through Europe, collecting art from "something Picasso".

Rose travels with her mother, Ruth, who doesn't approve of her modern ways.

She also travels with her fiancé Cal, whom she doesn't love.  Cal presents her with a fabulous diamond necklace called "the Heart of the Ocean".

"I saw my whole life as if I had already lived it.  An endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts, and polo matches.  Always the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter.  I felt like I was standing at a great precipice, with no one to pull me back, no one who cared...or even noticed," narrates Rose.

Unable to take the strain of her life any more, Rose heads towards the stern of the ship in an attempt to throw herself overboard.  She is talked out of it, however, by a charming third-class passenger named Jack Dawson, who won his passage aboard the ship during a card game.

Naturally, the two spend a lot of time together and fall in love.  After she finds out that Jack is quite a good artist, Rose has him make a drawing of her wearing the necklace that Cal gave her.

Of course, we know the ship is doomed from the start and it hits an iceberg.  Rose, after finding out about some shady dealings that Cal has been involved in, refuses to accompany her mother into a lifeboat.  She hurries to find Jack, and the two stick together.

The sinking of the ship is pretty intense, and it's heartbreaking to watch.

Jack and Rose survive the initial sinking, but Jack succumbs to the cold in the freezing waters of the Atlantic.  Rose mentions something about how she'll "never let go" before releasing him to the sea and is finally rescued.

As the rescue ship pulls into New York harbor, Rose gives her name as "Rose Dawson", thereby forever linking herself with Jack.  The name Rose DeWitt Bukater fades into history as a casualty of the sinking.

Back in the present, Rose reveals that she is still in possession of the necklace.  After she tells her story, Rose throws it off the research ship, letting the waters of the Atlantic claim it.

As Rose sleeps that night (or dies...the movie leaves it up to you to decide), she is reunited with Jack in her dreams as those who died in the shipwreck look on.

Cast rundown:

   Leonardo DiCaprio............................Jack Dawson

   Kate Winslet.....................................Rose DeWitt Bukater

   Billy Zane........................................Cal Hockley

   Kathy Bates.....................................Molly Brown

   Frances Fisher..................................Ruth DeWitt Bukater

   Gloria Stuart....................................Rose Calvert

   Bill Paxton.......................................Brock Lovett

   Bernard Hill.....................................Captain E.J. Smith

   Victor Garber...................................Thomas Andrews

   Suzy Amis.......................................Lizzy Calvert

   Lewis Abernathy...............................Lewis Bodine

   Ioan Gruffudd..................................5th Officer Harold Lowe

   Bernard Fox.....................................Col. Archibald Gracie

   Ron Donachie...................................Henry J. Bailey

And that's it for Titanic.  If you are looking to explore more of this famous ship's story, a good place to begin would be "Ghosts Of The Abyss", a follow-up film which sees director James Cameron return to the wreck of the Titanic with actor Bill Paxton.  Lewis Abernathy also accompanies them on the voyage.

I'd like to take a moment and raise a glass to the costumes produced for this film.  They were incredibly detailed, and I can't say enough good things about them.  Costume supervisor Deborah Lynn Scott won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, a well deserved honor.

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