Titanic this year’s cinema titan.
As reviewed by James Brundage
Two words, are you listening, Best Picture.
I know, I’ve put it off. I’m a procrastinator. I always wait until the last minute to name the Best Picture hopeful that I have (although its more like sure-fire with "Titanic"), but, when I do, I’m not often wrong (I’ve nailed ‘em three years straight)
To describe the movie "Titanic" is to try to describe light to a blind man. It's one of those movies that isn’t seen, it’s absorbed, engraved into the viewer’s brain. Tears stream down your cheeks as you realize the disaster. Smiles like ripples in a lake start whenever the 22-year old acting duet (Lenoardo Dicaprio of the Gen-X version of "Romeo & Juliet", Kate Winslet of "Hamlet") light up the screen with there romance.
To say what it is isn’t enough. To say what it’s not: it's not badly done, it’s not stupid, it’s not extraordinary in the supporting acting but the ship is the story, the special effects the tale, and they are done so well that everything bends to their wills.
Dicaprio doesn't disappoint me in this one, giving a subtly good performance, portraying the lower class well. He doesn't overact, which was what I was expecting from him, and doesn't underact, either. Plus, since the dialogue was cleaned up so well, he doesn't have to worry about that hampering him. Winslet didn't surprise me, if only because of the fact that she is one of those actresses who are naturally good. She turned up the romantic charm in "Sense & Sensibility", as well as persevered past the verse in "Hamlet" (something which DiCaprio ended up tripping over in "R & J"). The only actor that doesn't do well at all is Billy Zane, who really needs to control his face (he looks like a little child through half the movie).
As far as the directing it reaches a new level of perfection, Cameron's camera points on the ship of Titanic and we all light up our eyes at the magic, and the impact of it hits us all.
The movie’s point is that of discrediting the aristocracy, of putting down the upper class and their pretensions, as they are all cast as the villains in this flick. Its other point, as sad and true as it may be, is to show the complete horror of the Titanic disaster (as best displayed with scores of bodies floating in the water after the ship has sunk). But the movie is well beyond a disaster film. It is a miracle. A diamond in the rough. An entertaining work of art.
Get ready for three and a half hours of your life you will never forget.
Movie Reviews by James Brundage