The Analysis of The Film "The Titanic"

The Titanic tells the dramatic, prosperous yet love story of Jack Dawson played by Leonardo Dicaprio and Rose DeWitt Bukater played by Kate Winslet through a journey taken place in 1912 on their voyage from Southampton to New York City. Director James Cameron splurged a whopping $200 million on capturing this heart filling story. The 193 minute blockbuster epic went on to dominate the 70th Academy Awards, taking out 11 wins.

Most of the film takes place on The Titanic although some takes place in present time with Rose at 86 narrating some of her stories from her time spent on the ship. Many flashbacks are however taken back to April 12 1912. Classed as romance, disaster, drama, historial and epic The Titanic can take the pick of fitting into any of those five genres. But if you have a soft spot for a hopeless romantic love story and aren't afraid to shed a tear The Titanic is for you. The central plot of this film is between Jack and Rose following their love story which in this case does not happen to be to cliche with a case nothing like this.

On the other hand if you're not a fan of the romance but rather an action packed disaster The Titanic will not disappoint you. Cameron spectacularly uses a lot of great camera work in my opinion and special effects to capture the disaster of the sinking. The ship now faces west on the ocean floor from the disastrous and mournful sinking due to a accidental collision with an iceberg in the early hours of 15 April 1912. I love the this film. It is timeless with positive acting and a unique storyline. It is an exquisite representation of the disaster and is much more than the love of Jack and Rose. I found it quite interesting to catch a glimpse of how these massive ships operate, it was quite phenomnal to watch the background of the whole ship and not a typical love story where the storyline just focuses on the two main characters. I would really need to be nitpicking to find something that I didn't enjoy about this film.

The one thing that I came up with was perhaps some may call selfish? I know I am not the first person to bring up this popular debate but Rose nearing the end of the film in the water arguably had enough room for Jack to fit on to. The way that the film ended may of been a bit predictable but I found to be abrupt and disheartening. I would have liked to have seen more of how Rose handled the loss of her beloved Jack. Starting at the beginning Jack is a “poor boy” who wins himself a ticket on the maiden voyage of the world's most famous and soon to be infamous Titanic. As Jack enters the voyage he is soon to realise that the class system is prominent on this ship and lower class were to stay near the bottom of the ship which appears to be dark and dingy, yet Jack is just thankful and cant believe his luck to be on this ship.

As soon as he sees Rose there is an instant spark and fondness. Nevertheless this love would not be accepted as Rose is a “rich girl” under post-edwardian society. As soon as Jack and Roses soulful eyes meet Rose denies the idea that they could ever be together. I think many can relate to this as it proves you can be destined to be with anyone. Putting class, race and religion behind us you cant help who you fall in love with. Jack and Rose were not the “norm” in this case and many couples still to this present day struggle with not being accepted in by each other's families or friends due to statuses. I was impressed to see that the more time Rose spends with Jack she realises she is not suited for life in a first class cage that her society has placed her in.

The wise grace of third-class passenger has shown her a joyful and loving side to life to which Rose chooses over her current life and family. Rose does not want that life of eating off silverware each night. DiCaprio and Winslet being youngsters caught up in each others lust are however just another two out of 3547 that would experience the sinking. The detail that these two portrayed in their characters made the film a that bit more realistic and now a classic their acting really could not be faulted.

On the top decks Cameron depicts the inadequacies of the life rafts, equipment shortages and the pride of the ships creators and captain. During the last hour of the film and a key scene from the film “the sinking scene” beautifully captures the visual and special effects of something so mournful. Being filmed in 1997 these visuals stunned me with how realistic Cameron made this. Walls crashing down, water flooding the rooms and decks, those only holding a third class ticket locked down in the below decks were the first of many to suffer. In the final moments the ship is half underwater and half on top angling at 180 degrees with Cameron applying a long shot for the audience to see the whole picture. Hopeless passengers are seen jumping off the ship, with diegetic screams being heard where their life would end in the bitter waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Jack and Rose are to be seen in their final moments together floating on a door in the ocean. Supposedly with only enough room for one Jack being the true gentleman he is gives the space to Rose. Jack dies from hyperthermia and a very moving goodbye has to be said by Rose. With the narration style this film is told in we hear still to this present day that Rose never stopped loving Jack even moving on with her life which I think was a very lovely touch to add. I think it is definitely fair to say The Titanic is a crowd pleaser to any one young or old, a classic and a story close to many people's hearts. Many people have watched this movie at least over five times and the ending will still be guaranteed to leave you in a somber state with tears miserably streaming down your face. Cameron did a spectacular job of capturing this story and made The Titanic a film everybody will remember. “The heart of the Ocean” still remains a mystery to this day adding a moody and airy end to a sorrowful film.