Titanic (1997)

USA
written and directed by: James Cameron
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, Ioan Gruffud
comment: 19th January, 2018

I have such contradictory opinions about this film I can't recollect any other to match it right now. It is the embodiment, the ultimate homage and also an unfortunate forshadowing of all the blockbuster plagues that stop me from taking this branch of entertainment cinema seriously: it distorts history and its facts, it romanticizes misfortune and catastrophy, it wants to be the biggest of them all, the run-time is never-ending, it's a criticism of capitalism by the ultimate capitalists, and probably a load of other stuff I can't remember right now. (Casting absurdly attractive faces in the lead roles should be on the list, but I'm not including it in this case, because both the belle and the beau here are legitimate, competent and charismatic actors, while many of the models we see occupying the posters of blockbusters today simply are not and being beautiful is often perceived as being a good actor, see Margot Robbie for example.)

But on the other hand, I keep rewatching it without the desire to pull my brain out of my head with a hook through my nasal cavities. And amongst all the diversion there are two moments that always make me cry and that I genuinely really like: The first one is at the end of the film, when Rose gets to the whistle and the camera stays on her face and her eyes, and the other is the tracking shot of the photos old Rose keeps at her side, especially when the picture of her ridding a horse like a man is shown. However, during the viewing in January 2018 I added one more instance of crying on my agenda, and that was straight at the beginning when I remembered that Bill Paxton is no longer with us. Rest in peace, you damn fine guy.