Favourite Film Review

One of my favourite films:

Titanic is an epic disaster film, written and directed by James Cameron, and produced by 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment. It was released in 1997 and garnered critical and financial success. It went on to be nominated for 14 Oscars, and won 11. At the time of its release it was the most expensive film ever made (200 million dollars, costing more than the Titanic itself). It was the first film to reach 1 billion dollars in the box office. To this day it is one of the most ground-breaking films ever made. The long list of cast include; Leonardo di Caprio, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane. The film tells the story of a 17 year old first-class passenger (Winslet) who falls in love with a young destitute artist (Di Caprio), they begin a romantic affair, breaking the social and economic class system of the time. However their love is tested when the jealous fiancée of (Winslet) finds out. Their ultimate test is with the disastrous sinking of the ship, where they try to survive their impending doom. The reason that this film is one of my favourites is because it deals with the subject of love and class; and that the only real barriers between one another are the ones we construct in our minds. The story deals with the treatment of different social classes and how society is structured to favour the elite; for example in the movie, those in first class were the first to get on the lifeboats. I also really liked the acting of both Di Caprio and Winslet, and thought their performances were outstanding. I was surprised to discover that a lot of the films famous quotes were improvised. My favourite scene was near the beginning of the film, where Rose (Winslet) is hanging over the stern of the ship about to jump off; and Jack (Di Caprio) tries to talk her out of it, she accidentally slips trying to get on deck, however he manages to pulls her up. This scene was extremely effective as it played with tension, it began with a high climax and then slowly decreased in tension , but then rapidly increased in climax when she slips on the rail. In addition, the film itself to this day is pioneering in its use of special effects, scale and budget. The film required 40 acres of waterfront in Southern California, to build an almost life-size replica of the ship; with hydraulics to lift the ship up to 6 °. To make the sinking scene even more dramatic the filmmakers used low camera  angles to look up at the Titanic, this made the ship look even more dominating . James Cameron, used scale models and revolutionary CGI technics for the scenes where the ship sank. I also really appreciate the fact that James Cameron used Titanic researchers and White Star Liner employees ( The company that constructed the Titanic) to help in reconstructing the ships interior, to make it as realistic as possible. Without a doubt, this is one of the most detailed and beautiful movies ever made.

Lights switching off as she sinks