Picture 70: Titanic (1997)

It’s March 23^rd 1998 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Sean Connery talks through the impressive list of nominees for Best Picture: As Good as it Gets, the Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential and finally Titanic. A hush descends upon the room as Sean opens the envelope. He squints at the winner written before him, pauses and then announces in his Scottish tone, “Titanic”. The room erupts in applause. James Cameron rises to his feet, flanked by his wife Linda Hamilton (last seen playing Sarah Connor in the Terminator films). Cameron has had quite the evening, the film he directed has won 11 Oscars. A feat not seen since Ben-Hur (1959). 1997’s winner would go on to gross over $2 billion worldwide and was the highest grossing film in history until 2009’s Avatar.

There was certainly a lot of hype around James Cameron’s epic about the ill-fated White Star Line ocean liner. Was this fame justified or has its appeal faded over a generation?

The most expensive film ever made at the time, Titanic, begins with a contemporary exploration of the Titanic shipwreck with giant, metal lobster-style craft. Treasure hunter Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his team are looking for a precious jewel called the Heart of the Ocean. They excitedly find a rusty safe which they bring to the surface. However, it only contains a soggy drawing of Kate Winslet. The finding still makes the daytime news and Rose Dawson Calvert, aged 101, recognises herself in the drawing. She calls up Mr Lovett, saying that it is a portrait of her. Brock sends a helicopter to bring Rose aboard his ship. He hopes that she may have the answer as to where the Heart of the Ocean is.

Rose, begins to tell the group about her experiences aboard the Titanic in 1912 and so the main portion of the film begins. Rose, then 17, is suffocating within the rigid expectations of early-20^th-century upper-class society. She has a wealthy, unpleasant fiancé named Cal (Billy Zane) and a challenging mother to match.  Rose’s mother Ruth (played by Frances Fisher - last seen in Unforgiven 1992), is keen on the match so she can pay off the family debts. They set sail on Titanic's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. They have first-class cabins on the luxury, state-of-the-art ocean liner. Cal complains about the lifeboats aboard the ship saying they are a waste of space aboard an “unshinkable ship”…

Rose is emotionally dying inside and climbs the barriers at the back the ship on the first night of the journey. She considers jumping off the stern. However, young American Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) from steerage, carefully approaches and talks her back onto the deck. 23-year-old Leo is a free-spirited artist who needs no material wealth, no pomp nor ceremony to feel content. He has excellent hair and a real joie de vivre. Jack has next to nothing and is free. Rose has seemingly everything and is in prison. What follows is a dramatic love story and an interesting clash of culture and class - all taking place amidst one of the most famous and tragic nautical disasters of all time.

The first hour takes a bit of getting used to. The dialogue is a little timid and some of the special effects look a little clunky 29 years on. However, in time, the picture finds its feet and transitions to excellence.  

Kate and Leo were rightly launched into stardom by their performances. Titanic, for all of the parodies that followed, is at its core a touching story of young love and rebellion against a stifling class system. Winslet and DiCaprio are supported by a very strong wider cast and James Horner’s soundtrack adds a touch of Celtic class to the proceedings. The sinking sequence is very well done and depicts what must have been a horrifying 2 hours and 40 minutes for the 2,200 souls aboard – 1,500 of whom were lost at sea.

The appalling loss of life in 1912 led to sweeping changes in maritime safety. James Cameron’s 1997 film also changed cinema. It raised the bar for visual effects and set a new standard for the coming century. It proved that a large budget does not preclude from telling an intimate human story. It continued the transition into the digital era and moved the discussion of cinematic profit from the hundreds of millions to the billions.  

This is a magnificent and touching tribute to one of the greatest maritime tragedies. As it turns out, the heart of the ocean was here all the time, the human capacity to love even when facing disaster. It lands in an impressive 15th place.

Rating: 9/10

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1.     The Godfather (1972)

2. Schindler’s List (1993)

3. Casablanca (1943)

4. The Apartment (1960)

5. Rebecca (1940)

6. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

7. The Sound of Music (1965)

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

9. Ordinary People (1980)

10. A Man for All Seasons (1966)

11. Gandhi (1982)

12. The Deer Hunter (1978)

13. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

14. The English Patient (1996)

15. Titanic (1997)

16. Ben-Hur (1959)

17. The Last Emperor (1987)

18. Unforgiven (1992)

19. Lost Weekend (1945)

20. Platoon (1986)

21. Gone With the Wind (1939)

22. Rocky (1976)

23. Annie Hall (1977)

24. Amadeus (1984)

25. All About Eve (1950)

26. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

27. Hamlet (1948)

28. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

29. Braveheart (1995)

30. Out of Africa (1985)

31. West Side Story (1961)

32. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

33. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

34. Wings (1928)

35. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

36. You can’t take it with you (1938)

37. Patton (1970)

38. Terms of Endearment (1983)

39. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

40. On the Waterfront (1954)

41. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

42. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

43. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

44. Rain Man (1988)

45. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

46. Forrest Gump (1994)

47. Dances with Wolves (1990)

48. Marty (1955)

49. Oliver! (1968)

50. Cimarron (1931)

51. Grand Hotel (1932)

52. The French Connection (1971)

53. An American in Paris (1951)

54. From Here to Eternity (1953)

55. It Happened One Night (1934)

56. My Fair Lady (1964)

57. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

58. Cavalcade (1933)

59. The Sting (1973)

60. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

61. Going My Way (1944)

62. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

63. Chariots of Fire (1981)

64. All the King’s Men (1949)

65. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

66. Gigi (1958)

67. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

68. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

69. The Broadway Melody (1929)

70. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield – Fashion Correspondent

Dr Caspar Briault – Head of Cynicism

Dr Conrad Charlton

Dr Sophie Clarke

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Josh Fisher

Dr Joseph Gallaher – CEO and Founder

Dr Joseph Hamilton

Dr Adam Holland – Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Dr Sid Mohan - Divisional Lead for the 1980s

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia