Why did I go then?

I wanted to see the ship. I've had a lingering interest in the Titanic
since I was entranced by Robert Ballard's photos of the wreck in _National
Geographic_ years and years ago. Having heard that the film incorporated
actual footage of the Titanic as she is today, I was determined to see it
on the big screen. Besides, having liked some of James Cameron's work (the
first Terminator film, and Aliens), I wondered if it could really be that
bad.

Titanic is really three stories in one: the framing story set in the
present, the story of the romance between Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt
Buckater, and the story of the Titanic sinking. These three tales are
skilfully interwoven by Cameron, but are told with varying degrees of
success.

For me, the romance was the least satisfactory. I can attribute part of
this to my reaction to DiCaprio, whose style I personally find irritating,
but most of the blame must be attributed to Cameron, for a very weak
script. Although I didn't care for Kate Winslet's performance as Rose much
either, I found myself feeling very sorry for her having to deliver such
trite and cliched lines. This was really by-the-numbers stuff: rich,
uppity (but inwardly dissatisfied) girl meets boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-
town who teaches her that there's more to life than she's ever known.
Unfortunately, Cameron was not able to disguise how tired the formula is,
and the only surprise is the cliche that it manages to avoid: had it been
revealed that Rose ended up carrying Jack's child, and that Jack was Lizzy
Calvert's (Suzy Amis) real grandfather, the cheese would have been
unbearable. Fortunately, Cameron somehow managed to restrain himself.

The supporting cast isn't treated much better by the script: Billy Zane
as Rose's fiance, Cal Hockley, lacked only a black cape and a moustache to
twirl to make him into the archetypal melodrama villain, and Frances
Fisher as Rose's mother never quite succeeded in her valiant attempt to do
something with what she had been handed by Cameron. Nowhere is this
more obvious than the scene where she is lacing Rose into her corset, and
sympathy for the character is asked of the audience. By then it's far too
late. Where Fisher fails, David Warner as Cal's valet, Spicer Lovejoy,
enjoys a marginal success, succeeding perhaps because he had the luxury of
playing a character from whom no real depth is required, nor for
whom sympathy is expected.

Fortunately, as the film continues, the love story is gradually eclipsed
by the much larger drama unfolding around Jack and Rose as the Titanic
strikes the iceberg and begins to sink. Cameron is in his element now,
masterfully building tension and suspense, and providing that sick feeling
in the pit of the stomach that something really, really awful is
happening. It's the same feeling that he was able to use so successfully
to underpin his science-fiction projects. Comparing Titanic to The
Terminator and Aliens, one can find a strong parallel between small, weak,
and insignficant humans pitched up against forces that are inexorable,
unstoppable, and deadly. The horror of knowing that the Titanic is going
to sink and that nothing can stop it (stated so quietly and effectively by
Victor Garber as the Titanic's builder, Thomas Andrews) is the same horror
faced by Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), knowing that the Terminator will
not give up until it has tracked her down and killed her, and the same
horror faced by the Marines cornered behind their own barricades by the
aliens which they know will inevitably swarm in and overpower them. Not a
shot is wasted as Cameron tells this story that he knows and tells so
well, with the tension being kept at boiling point for a solid half-hour
or more. Again, as in The Terminator and Aliens, he uses the
claustrophobia allowed by his setting to work to full advantage. There
isn't a moment's let-up until the Titanic finally sinks completely. Best
of all for me, the constant movement of this part of the film releases
DiCaprio from the need to act, and Winslet from her apalling lines.

Unfortunately, what comes next - Jack and Rose afloat and awaiting rescue
not only returns to the inanity of the first part of their love story, but
forms an over-long and conspicuous anticlimax to the James Cameron action
film woven into Titanic.

Amidst all of this, the other supporting players are given a chance for
some fine work. Garber's performance has already been noted, and Bernard
Hill as Captain E. J. Smith performs with a simple and understated dignity
that evokes great sympathy as well as serving to underscore the unfolding
tragedy.

What of the framing story? This was an excellent device for Cameron to use
to anticipate the drama that was to come. His audience all know that the
Titanic is going to hit an iceberg and sink. Cameron opens his film by
telling them that he knows it too and is not going to insult their
intelligence by asking them to forget this little fact for an hour or so.
Having said that, the story itself is completely disposable, and would
also be completely unremarkable except for the fine job that Gloria Stuart
did as Rose at age 101, once again, in spite of a script that worked
against her all the way.

In the end, the sheer power of the story of the Titanic sinking, coupled
with the breath-taking special effects and the silent poignancy of the
images of the wreck lying miles under the Atlantic made me forgive Cameron
completely for his misguided scriptwriting. As I said, it was these
elements that had convinced me to see the film on the big screen, and I
didn't go away disappointed.

Titanic is not a great film, but it is a profoundly powerful and moving
one. Because I feel that it has so many great things about it, and so
many awful things at the same time, I don't feel comfortable or
confident in giving it a score of any kind - especially because I know
that my personal dislike for DiCaprio's acting has coloured my impressions
of it. Instead, I'm voting with my feet - I'm going to see it again
tonight.

Ruediger Landmann