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As the Oscars approach, our movie guy, James Finnegan, takes a look back at James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ which swept the boards 25 years ago…
It has always seemed a little bit strange to me that a film that tells of the sinking of the Titanic is considered a romantic film, but perhaps I am just a little old fashioned.
However, James Cameron’s production achieved critical and commercial success since its release in December 1997. It was the most expensive film ever made at that time with a budget of about $200 million and broke box office records. It is actually the third highest grossing film of all time.
Kate Winslet as Rose.
Cameron apparently had always been fascinated by shipwrecks, so wrote, produced and directed this version of the famous event.
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It is said that there was not a facet or job on this film that Cameron did not oversee or take part in, resulting in many stories of, shall we say, creative disputes behind the scenes. He even did all Jack’s famous sketches!
The film is cleverly surrounded by a modern day search and examination of the wreck, so use of the vessels and equipment used in this served as a base for filming. Indeed, it was said that Cameron had spent longer on reconnaissance at the wreck than Titanic spent sailing.
Jack and Rose.
However, it is the fictional romance story of Rose (Kate Winslett) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) that lies at the heart of the story.
Rose De Witt was inspired by aspects of the life of American artist Beatrice Wood, whose biography Cameroon was reading while working on the script.
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Jack Dawson was a total invention, although it was discovered that there was a J Dawson on board the ship. This got many excited and even today flowers (and cinema ticket stubs) are left on the grave of Joseph Dawson – a member of the crew who was a coal trimmer, who made certain that the piles of coal shovelled into the ship’s furnaces were level.
However, several real life characters are interwoven into the story, notably Molly Brown (Kathy Bates), Thomas Andrews (Victor Garber) and Captain Edward John Smith (Bernard Hill).
Unfortunately there is no appearance by Titanic’s Doctor, William Francis O’Loughlin, who was actually brought up in Tralee!
Other details that match the records from the time are the elderly couple who decide to stay together on the ship to spend their final moments together, and of course, the band who played on as the ship sank.
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The spectacular way in which the ship sank is not really technically accurate, but certainly cinematically effective.
However, the turning of First Officer William Murdoch into a baddie by shooting passengers, then himself, resulted in a personal apology from a Fox Vice President to his family.
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David Warner who played nasty Valet Lovejoy holds the rare distinction of sinking twice on Titanic – this version and a 1979 US TV version.
Winslet and Gloria Stuart were the first dual Oscar nominees for the same role in the same film and were part of a record fourteen nominations for Titanic gaining an eventual eleven wins including Best Picture, Best Director and Original Song for “My Heart will Go On”.
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