Titanic (movie, 1997)

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Titanic is an American drama romance written, produced and directed by James Cameron , released in 1997 .

It tells the story of two young passengers of the liner Titanic in. One, Rose, is a first-class passenger who tries to commit suicide to free herself from the constraints imposed by her entourage, and the second, Jack, is a tramp on the third-class board to return to the United States . They meet by chance during the suicide attempt of Rose and live a love story quickly troubled by the sinking of the ship .

The setting for the film, a faithful reconstruction of the sinking, was developed with the help of two historians, Don Lynch and Ken Marschall . The filming involved the construction of an almost life-size model of the ship, shipments on the wreck and many special effects , including digital. The film has led to a remarkable revival of interest in the real Titanic,which has resulted in the publication or republication of many books on the subject.

The film is the second-biggest success in film history after Avatar (also directed by James Cameron ) and tied the record of eleven Oscars in 1998 , including Best Picture and Best Director . In France, this film will have accumulated a total of nearly 21.8 million viewers with the covers (including 20.6 million admissions during its first release in1 ), putting the film at the top of the French box office of all time 2 .

The film returns to theaters on , adapted in 3D , to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic .

Synopsis

Detailed Summary

The Titanic is the central place of action.

Nowadays

In September 1996, Brock Lovett is the coordinator of a team that meticulously searches the wreck of the Titanic , a giant liner deemed to be unsinkable and yet tragically fateful. During a miniature submarine dive , he hopes to finally put his hand on the Heart of the Ocean , a unique jewel of inestimable value, worn by Louis XVI , whose discovery would bring him glory (this jewel is inspired of the blue diamond of the Crown ). But it goes up from the depths a safe that is revealed to contain only a drawing of a naked girl wearing the jewel pendant.

Thousands of miles away, an old lady, Rose Calvert, discovers this drawing on her TV screen. She contacts Lovett and tells him she is the girl in question. As one of the few survivors of the Titanic sinking , she is brought on the Lovett crew boat and tells them about the ship’s inaugural cruise, its shipwreck, and the love story. she lived with Jack Dawson, an artist traveling in third class.

The crossing

The Rose embarks on the Titanic in Southampton with her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, her fiancé, Caledon Hockley, and their servants. Meanwhile, in a pub of the port, four men play a game of poker , whose final stake becomes the two tickets of third class on the Titanic, wagered by Swedes. By winning the game, Jack and Fabrizio embark on the ship in extremis , without going through the sanitary control, nor be registered. As a result, they are not registered on the passenger list.

As the crossing begins, Rose feels more and more trapped by a high society that wants her to marry a man she does not like. Finally, on the evening of Friday, April 12, after dinner, she tries to commit suicide by jumping from behind the ship. Jack, who was strolling on deck, rushes to his aid and succeeds in saving her after long negotiations during which he undresses, ready to dive behind Rose to try to save her if she lets herself fall. Rose ends up giving up her fatal design, but slips while re-jigging the rail and finds herself hung in a vacuum over the black and icy waters of the North Atlantic, at the stern of the ship. By holding it by one hand, Jack finally succeeds in reassembling it and tipping it on the deck until it sinks one on the other. Alerted by the cries, sailors come running and discover them lying on the ground. Rose having her dress torn, they think of an attempted rape and handcuff Jack immediately. But Rose defends herself, explaining that he saved her from an accident while she had slipped on the rail. After questioning and embarrassed silence, Jack confirms his words, failing to admit that she was initially trying to commit suicide. Cal and other passengers, who arrived at the scene in the meantime, decide to invite Jack to dinner with them. she had slipped on the rail. After questioning and embarrassed silence, Jack confirms his words, failing to admit that she was initially trying to commit suicide. Cal and other passengers, who arrived at the scene in the meantime, decide to invite Jack to dinner with them. she had slipped on the rail. After questioning and embarrassed silence, Jack confirms his words, failing to admit that she was initially trying to commit suicide. Cal and other passengers, who arrived at the scene in the meantime, decide to invite Jack to dinner with them.first class to thank him. Far away from the others, Cal’s Jack Lovejoy is astonished that Jack had the laces undone, implying that he had left his shoes for a so-called instantaneous and improvised rescue. and lets him hear that he understood that something else had happened between them.

Reproduction of the Heart of the Ocean , jewel in the center of the action of the film.

The next day, Saturday, April 13, Jack and Rose spend the day together on the deck of the Titanic , discussing their lives. Rose wants Jack’s independence and lack of ties. With the help of Margaret “Molly” Brown , Jack manages to be presentable for dinner, where most of the guests are friendly, with the exception of Ruth and Cal, who only display contempt for him. He is also introduced to wealthy passengers, such as billionaire John Jacob Astor and his young wife Madeleine . After the meal, Jack invites Rose to a party in third class, without knowing that they are being watched by Cal’s valet, Lovejoy.

The next morning, Sunday, April 14, Cal gets angry with Rose and tells her about what a good future bride should be. His mother also expresses his fears: if the marriage does not take place, their family, ruined, will lose everything. Rose decides to sacrifice herself for the sake of her mother. Jack fraudulently introduces himself in first class to reason, but in vain: Rose refuses. It was only at sunset that she decided to join him and leave the yoke due to his rank. She asks Jack to draw her naked, wearing only the Heart of the Oceanoffered shortly before by Cal. After being executed, Jack and Rose are forced to flee Lovejoy, taking refuge in the boiler rooms and then in the hold, where they make love inside a Renault 1912. Shortly after having come out on the bridge , they witness the collision of the Titanic with an iceberg .

The wreck

Rose and Jack decide to tell Ruth and Cal that something has happened, and go back to Rose’s cabin, but on the way, Lovejoy slips the jewel into Jack’s pocket, which is accused of stealing and locked in. the captain’s office. Rose, acquainted with the gravity of the situation by the designer of the ship, Thomas Andrews, prepares to board a boat with her mother, but changes her mind at the last moment and rushes to the rescue of Jack, whom she ends up freeing by cutting her handcuffs with an ax, while he is attached to a pipe in a cell where the water is already reaching them at mid-thighs. After his release, both managed to reach the boat deck, not without difficulty, because the grates obstructing the lower decks, third class, are all closed by a crew very zealous and not yet aware of the seriousness of the situation. Jack and Cal then persuade Rose to get into a canoe, Cal admitting to negotiating an arrangement with First Officer William Murdochon the other side of the ship, making Rose believe that Jack will also benefit. But as her longboat sails down the hull, under Jack and Cal’s gaze, Rose runs away from it as she rejoins the ship at the middle deck, preferring to share Jack’s fate rather than risk returning to her ship. life before. A chase ensues inside the Titanic, where Cal does not hesitate to fire on the young couple many times, with the handgun he has torn from his butler. Finally, he gives up when the icy water of the Atlantic reaches him already at the level of the size, in the room of reception of the 1st classes, with the bridge D, to save his own life and goes back on the bridge after having found with terror that his coat, thatHeart of the Ocean. Urged to be evacuated, while only women and children are entitled to it, and in view of the few spaces available in the rescue boats, he recalls his commitment to the officer to whom he gave a large sum of money . But in the panic, and facing the dramatic situation that events take, the man throws his tickets in the face, and after killing two passengers in a crowd he can not contain, including Tommy, the Irish friend Jack and Fabrizio met on the ship, he commits suicide. Cal then seizes a girl and uses it as a pretext to board one of the last canoes, making believe that it is his daughter. Jack and Rose meet Andrews in the smoker (who feels guilty about not having designed the boat against such a quick sinking has decided to sink with the liner), and are eventually forced to take refuge on the rear deck that turns out to be more and more busy, as the bow sinks into the water. Meanwhile, Fabrizio, who dropped into the water after heroically cut off a piece of rope stuck in a davit and obstructed the release of a canoe, was killed by the fall of the liner’s first chimney. When the ship breaks in two, Jack takes Rose to the rear of the stern of the ship, behind the rail, “where they met for the first time”, before the rear part of the ship rises to the vertical and eventually sink. The two lovers then find themselves in the icy water and find for refuge a piece of woodwork. Only Rose can take place without making it flow. To save her, Jack accepts his fate by staying in a water of barely 1 degree, knowing that he has no chance of survival. Like most of the 1,500 victims of the disaster, he ended up dying of hypothermia. Faced with the promise to survive, for him, that she just made to Jack, Rose then provides a last effort by evacuating, swimming, his wooden board to the floating corpse of a sailor with a whistle. She then manages to signal her presence to the officer’s canoe Jack then accepts his fate by staying in a water of barely 1 degree, knowing that he has no chance of survival. Like most of the 1,500 victims of the disaster, he ended up dying of hypothermia. Faced with the promise to survive, for him, that she just made to Jack, Rose then provides a last effort by evacuating, swimming, his wooden board to the floating corpse of a sailor with a whistle. She then manages to signal her presence to the officer’s canoe Jack then accepts his fate by staying in a water of barely 1 degree, knowing that he has no chance of survival. Like most of the 1,500 victims of the disaster, he ended up dying of hypothermia. Faced with the promise to survive, for him, that she just made to Jack, Rose then provides a last effort by evacuating, swimming, his wooden board to the floating corpse of a sailor with a whistle. She then manages to signal her presence to the officer’s canoe Rose then provides a last effort by evacuating, by swimming, her wooden board to the floating corpse of a sailor with a whistle. She then manages to signal her presence to the officer’s canoe Rose then provides a last effort by evacuating, by swimming, her wooden board to the floating corpse of a sailor with a whistle. She then manages to signal her presence to the officer’s canoeHarold Lowe , come looking for possible survivors. With the survivors of the sinking , she is, in the early morning of April 15, supported on board the Carpathia , where she takes care to hide from Cal who search the crowd of survivors, during the end of crossing. Upon her arrival in New York on April 18, she named the man who made a list of survivors “Rose Dawson”, and never give a sign of life to his family.

Undoing

Returning in 1996, Rose, whose many photos reveal that she had a very free and independent life, concludes her story, explaining that Cal, to his knowledge, committed suicide during the Great Depression . not knowing what had happened to the Heart of the Ocean . But Brock Lovett claims to have finally understood the meaning of Titanic’s story . At night, Rose goes to the rail of the scientific ship and, above the waves, reveals in her hand the jewel. a analepsisreveals to the viewer how, on the Carpathian Bridge, she discovered it in the pocket of her coat. With a long smile, she then throws the jewel in the Atlantic so that it joins the burial of the Titanic. The end of the film can be interpreted in different ways: Rose falls asleep or dies in her cabin and in her dream, unless it is the hereafter , she joins Jack and all the victims of the sinking gathered in the Grand Staircase of Titanic reconstituted for a final kiss and moving.

Alternative end

The cut scenes of the film, present in the special editions and collector on DVD as well as in the Blu-ray versions, include an alternative ending, which is none other than the end provided in the original script 3 .

In this one, after Rose has finished telling her story and the submarines are brought to the surface, a party is organized on the Keldych . Lizzy searches for her grandmother and falls on Brock Lovett, starting a discussion about her new look at the Titanic tragedy . Meanwhile, Rose approaches the stern of the boat with the intention of throwing the Heart of the Oceanoverboard ; his granddaughter then sees him climbing the security fence. Thinking of his life in danger, Lizzy and Brock join her and he realizes that Rose has been in possession of the jewel since the beginning. The researcher wants to convince her to keep it, but she refuses. Therefore, Brock asks Rose to allow him to touch him once. She accepts, puts it in his hand but Brock is tempted to keep it. Rose finally convinced him to let her throw the diamond into the ocean, under the dumbfounded look of the crew came to see what was happening. Brock burst out laughing and then asks Lizzy if she wants to dance. Rose smiles as she sees the scene and rolls her eyes, watching a shooting star. The following scene is based on the final version of the film: Rose s’Titanic and find the missing passengers, including Jack.

Some shots and scenes of this alternative ending are used in the movie’s operating version, as part of the discussion between Brock and Lizzy or even Rose approaching the back of the boat, barefoot. This other end, like different scenes cut in the present, made it possible to put forward more the evolution of the character of Brock Lovett: first presented as a greedy and unscrupulous man, indifferent to the tragic history of the ship and of his passengers, he finally understood the meaning of this sinking and the weight of lives lost, eventually giving up his only obsession for years: the Heart of the Ocean .

Moreover, with two other scenes removed from the final montage, this alternative ending presented a constant in the original scenario: the appearance of shooting stars. A first shooting star was visible in a scene where Jack was taking Rose back to the upper deck after their third class evening, when he told him that his father had taught him that these stars represented the ascension to heaven of souls. A second shooting star must be visible when the young woman observes the starry sky, after the sinking, on the piece of wood floating in the middle of debris and bodies, shortly before she discovers that Jack is dead. Finally, the last shooting star is observable in this alternative end 3 .

Technical sheet

Unless otherwise stated, this data sheet is based on IMDb 4 .

  • Original title: Titanic
  • Director: James Cameron
  • Scenario: James Cameron
  • Artistic Direction: Martin Laing , Charles Dwight Lee
  • Sets: Peter Lamont
  • Costumes: Deborah Lynn Scott
  • Sound: Christopher Boyes
  • Photography: Russell Carpenter
  • Editing: Conrad Buff , James Cameron, Richard A. Harris
  • Music: James Horner
  • Production: James Cameron and Jon Landau (producer) , Rae Sanchini  (No.) (executive producer) , Al Giddings, Grant Hill and Sharon Mann  (in) (co-producer) , Pamela Easley (associate producer)
  • Production Companies: 20th Century Fox , Paramount Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment 5
  • Distribution Companies: 20th Century Fox (International) , Paramount Pictures (Canada and USA)
  • Special Effects Companies: Digital Domain , Industrial Light & Magic 5
  • Production Budget: 200 million to USD 6
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Language: English , Italian , Russian , German
  • Format 7 : Color (DeLuxe) – 2.35: 1 – 35 mm – Dolby Digital SDDS DTS sound
  • Genres: disaster , drama , romance
  • Duration: 194 minutes
  • Filming dates:  the .
  • Release dates in theaters 8 :
    • Japan : (world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival )
    • United States : ( Los Angeles )
    • Canada , United States (national exit) :
    • Belgium , France , Switzerland :, in 3D
  • Number of entries
France : 20,758,841 entries
  • Box Office
United States : 600,788,188 of dollars
World : 1,843,201,268 of dollars

Distribution

Fictional characters [ change | change the code ]

1912

  • Leonardo DiCaprio (VF: Damien Witecka and VQ: Joel Legendre ) : Jack Dawson
  • Kate Winslet (VF: Anneliese Fromont and VQ: Christine Bellier ) : Rose DeWitt Bukater-Dawson young
  • Billy Zane (VF: Pierre Tessier and VQ: Daniel Picard ) : Caledon Hockley
  • Frances Fisher (VF: Anne Rochant and VQ: Diane Arcand) : Ruth DeWitt Bukater
  • David Warner Note 1 (VF: Frédéric Cerdal and VQ: Guy Nadon ) : Spicer Lovejoy
  • Danny Nucci (VF: Xavier Beja and VQ: Gilbert Lachance ) : Fabrizio De Rossi
  • Jason Barry (VF: Maël Davan-Soulas and VQ: François Godin ) : Tommy Ryan
  • Alexandrea Owens: Cora Cartmell
  • Rocky Taylor: Bert Cartmell

1996

  • Bill Paxton (VF: Bruno Choël and VQ: Benoit Ethier) : Brock Lovett
  • Gloria Stuart Note 2 (VF: Lita Recio and VQ: Françoise Faucher (Cinema) and Béatrice Picard (Video) : Rose Dawson-Calvert aged
  • Lewis Abernathy (VF: Daniel Lafourcade and VQ: Alain Zouvi ) : Lewis Bodine
  • Suzy Friends (VQ: Marie-Andree Corneille ) : Lizzy Calvert

Historical characters

  • Kathy Bates  (VF: Monique Thierry and VQ: Claudine Chatel ) : Margaret called “Molly” Brown
  • Victor Garber  (VF: Gabriel Le Doze and VQ: Bernard Fortin ) : Thomas Andrews , the architect of Titanic
  • Bernard Hill  (VF: Georges Berthomieu and VQ: Yves Massicotte) : Commander Edward John Smith
  • Jonathan Hyde  (VF: Pierre Dourlens and VQ: Vincent Davy ) : Joseph Bruce Ismay
  • Mark Lindsay Chapman  (VF: Ludovic Baugin and VQ: Denis Roy) : Second in Command Wilde
  • Ewan Stewart  (VF: François Dunoyer and VQ: Mario Desmarais ) : 1 st officer Murdoch
  • Jonathan Phillips  (VF: Thierry Wermuth and DV: Pierre Auger ) : 2 e Officer Lightoller
  • From Kevin Noy: 3 E Officer Herbert Pitman (uncredited)
  • Simon Crane: 4 th officer Boxhall
  • Ioan Gruffudd  (VF: William Coryn and DV: James Hyndman ) : 5 th Officer Lowe
  • Edward Fletcher ( VQ : Ugolino Chevrette ) : 6 th officer Moody
  • Eric Braeden  (VF: Herve Bellon and VQ: Luis de Cespedes ) : John Jacob Astor IV
  • Charlotte Chatton : Madeleine Astor
  • Bernard Fox Note 3  (VF: Yves Barsacq and VQ: Jean Brousseau ) : Colonel Archibald Gracie
  • Michael Ensign  (VQ: Hubert Fielden ) : Benjamin Guggenheim
  • Chris Cragnotti: Valet Victor Giglio
  • Rochelle Rose: Countess of Rothes
  • Lew Palter: Isidor Straus
  • Elsa Raven: Ida Straus
  • Martin Jarvis: Cosmo Edmund Duff Gordon
  • Rosalind Ayres: Lucy Christina Gordon Duff
  • Jonathan Evans-Jones (VQ: Jean-Luc Montminy ) : Wallace Hartley violinist
  • I salonisti: Titanic Orchestra
  • James Lancaster (VF: Philippe Peythieu and VQ: Jean-Marie Moncelet ) : Father Thomas Byles
  • Gregory Cooke: Jack Phillips
  • Craig Kelly ( VQ : François L’Écuyer ) : Harold Bride
  • Liam Tuohy: Charles Joughin
  • Terry Forrestal ( VQ : Yvon Thiboutot ) : Chief Engineer Joseph Bell
  • Paul Brightwell ( VQ : Éric Gaudry ) : Quartermaster Robert Hichens
  • Richard Graham : Quartermaster George Rowe
  • Scott G. Anderson (VQ: Olivier Fontaine) : Watcher Frederick Fleet
  • Martin East ( VQ : Sylvain Hétu ) : Watcher Reginald Lee
  • Ron Donachie ( VQ : Claude Préfontaine ) : Captain of Arms
  • Richard Ashton ( VQ : Hubert Gagnon ) : John Hutchinson Carpenter
  • Derek Lea ( VQ : Benoit Rousseau ) : Fire Chief Fred Barrett
  • Marc Cass: Steward swept away by the water
  • Paul Herbert: Steward washed away
  • Brendan Connolly: Scotland Road steward
  • Mark Capri: Steward hit on the nose
  • Sean Nepita ( VQ : Jacques Lussier ) : Elevator Steward
  • Chrystopher Byrne: Doorman
  • Garth Wilton: Server offering caviar to Jack
  • Oliver Page, James Emmett and Richard Fox: Cabin Steward 1 st class
  • Kevin Owers and Nick Meaney: Stewards of 3 E class

Production

Achieving Titanic has required many technical prowess and use techniques rarely used at the time as the creation of virtual extras and stuntmen. James Cameron wrote, directed and edited the film that he also produced himself through his production company (Lightstorm Entertainment). Some shots use real extras, mock-ups, fully computer-designed items, such as sea and characters. The film is indeed one of the first to have used stunt artists retouched numerically to give them various appearances and to create crowds, as in the scene of the departure 12 .

Due to the length of the film, several scenes in the script were not shot or were cut during editing, like the scene before the suicide attempt where Rose goes in her cabin, breaks her mirror Tears off her collar and breaks off; the fight scene between Jack and Lovejoy shortly before the ship broke; or the scene on the Carpathia when Cal include Rose, the latter announcing that everything is over 13; as well as several historical scenes (when Major Smith and officers see off a vessel that appears to be Californian ; another scene reported by witnesses at the time shows the billionaire John Jacob Astor reassuring his wife Madeleine in the liner gymnasium by disemboweling a lifejacket to show him the cork it contains).

Genesis

The project, long-standing in Cameron’s mind, began when the director filmed icebergs off Nova Scotia , giving the film the fictional title Planet Ice 14 . The project taking shape, the studios considered several actors to play the role of Jack Dawson, in particular Macaulay Culkin . Matthew McConaughey and Chris O’Donnell were also considered for the role, but Cameron wanted a younger actor 15 . Regarding the role of Rose, Gwyneth Paltrow (for Young Rose) and Fay Wray(for older Rose) were considered, the latter refusing for fear that this experience is traumatic for her. Robert De Niro has meanwhile been offered the role of Captain Smith but had to refuse, at the time suffering from a gastrointestinal infection 16 . It’s finally the casting director, Mali Finn , who convinces Cameron to hire Kate Winslet and then Leonardo DiCaprio . The first meeting between the two actors confirmed that they have the talent and the chemistry necessary to make credible romance between Jack and Rose 17 .

Actors camping real characters, for example Bernard Hill (Commander Edward Smith ), Eric Braeden ( John Jacob Astor IV ) or Jonathan Hyde ( J. Bruce Ismay ) were chosen for their physical resemblance to the character they interpret 18 .

Reconstitution of the ship and its wreck

“Restoring life to this boat has been more satisfying to me than making it flow again. ”

– James Cameron 19
The Grand Staircase of the Olympicinspired the decorators to recreate that of the Titanic .

For the purpose of filming, a life-size model of the ship was constructed. Note 4 , 20 . The builders have consulted the original plans of the liner provided by shipyard Harland and Wolff , builders of the Titanic 21 . An eight-meter study model was also built before the start of work 22 . The construction of the life-size decoration began on, 85 years to the day after the launch of Titanic 23 . According to Jon Landeau, producer of the film, turn on a model of this size has avoided a thousand special effects 24 . To save money, only one side of the hull was built. Weather observations determined that the best side was the starboard side of the liner. On the day of his departure, the Titanic presented its port side to the wharf. So it was decided to turn the scene of the departure of the Titanic backwards and put it in the right direction in postproduction. The props, costumes and vehicles present for the stage were therefore designed with inverted inscriptions to match 25 .

The realism was pushed far enough since the davits decor were provided by the company Wellin, who designed those Titanic 26 . During filming, the boats were actually slumped and lowered along the hull allowing the actors and team members to understand the feelings of anxiety that could enter the passenger asked to board the boats 27 . The vessel thus reconstituted in every detail could be tilted by eight hydraulic cylinders 28 . For the final scenes, the structure was cut in half to facilitate filming and immersion. The front could be lowered to immerse yourself 29, while the rear part was placed on a tilting platform that allowed it to stand up 30 .

To film the scenes where the ship is at sea, as well as some scenes of the sinking, the studio Digital Domain , in charge of special effects, used a model of the Titanic 1/ 20 e 31 . The Carpathiahas however not been rebuilt. The scenes that take place were actually filmed on the scene of the Titanic refurbished 32 .

Independent interior decorations have also been created, representing the first-class dining room and Grand Staircase Note 5 , 33 . Both sets were designed so as to be inclined and immersed for scenes of sinking Note 6 , 34 . The dining room carpets were provided by the company that had produced the authentic model 35 .

Conversely, other decorations such as the smoking room could not be inclined. For the sinking scenes taking place in such scenery, for example when Jack and Rose speak one last time with the designer of the ship, Thomas Andrews in the smokehouse, the actors had to simulate themselves the inclination of the ship by leaning aside, as is the camera 36 . It was also necessary to place special accessories, such as glasses with a solid and sloping content. Note 7 , 37. Finally, some decors were only created in scale models 1/4, like the first class salon. The actors have therefore turned green background scenes where they are in this room and then were integrated into the background during the post- 38 .

To house the underwater scenery, 20th Century Fox has acquired sixteen hectares of land along the coast of Rosarito, Baja California. Blasting operations began in June 1996 to dig the basins, the largest having a capacity of 85 million liters, and the second of 25 million 24 . Another tank with a capacity of 1.6 million liters, has meanwhile been used to shoot scenes showing shipwrecked people struggling in the icy water and survivors in the canoes 39 .

Visits to the wreck and filming on it

James Cameron was keen to visit the wreck of the Titanic before filming 40 . Its that participated in underwater dives on the wreck with the team doctor Anatoly Sagalevitch 41 . Cameron requested $ 6 million from Fox and Paramount Pictures to embark on a Russian research vessel, the Akademik Mstislav Keldych , and film the Titanic at a depth of over 3,700 meters.

In 17 days, Cameron made 12 dives and was able to enter the wreckage thanks to a remote controlled camera specially developed by his brother engineer, a ROV 42 . He has been able to film one of the two luxury suites (called “millionaires”) of the ship (that of Charlotte Drake Cardeza and his son Thomas) and the ship’s reception room 43 .

The film opens with a dive on the wreck led by Brock Lovett ( Bill Paxton ). The crew of the film’s submarine includes Sagalevitch (who in the film is named Anatoly Mickaelavich), because, according to Cameron, he “had to be in the film”, being the creator of the Mir submarines used for exploration and for film 44 . These scenes, however, were shot in the studio, using a model of the wreck fixed to the ceiling for the filming easier 24 . The scenes inside the wreckage were shot in a faithful reproduction of the reception room and Rose’s cabin as they are on the site. The decor, real size, was immersed,45 . The only images coming from the wreck are those of the chimney of the small salon of the suite of Rose 6 , a door of the reception room and the remains of the Grand Staircase.

The scenes aboard the Keldysh depicting Elderly Rose ( Gloria Stuart ), were actually shot on the Akademik Mstislav Keldych , used for expeditions. For the finishing scene of Rose and her granddaughter, had to turn on the helipad of a coastguard vessel, the Keldysh not being provided with such a facility 46 .

In 2001 , Cameron again did dives on the wreck, dives he filmed. The videos appear in a three-dimensional film commentary by Bill Paxton , Ghosts of the “Titanic” ( Ghosts of the Abyss ) released in 2003 47 . Cameron also used the Keldysh and Mir submersibles for an expedition on the wreck of the Bismarck battleship sunk in 1941, and made a documentary, Expedition: “Bismarck,” presented in 2002 48 .

Difficult Filming and budget overruns

Logistics and excessive scale, the filming of Titanic was particularly difficult for Cameron and his team. The legendary perfectionism of the filmmaker, who shot a lot of catch, only increased the tensions and exasperation of some. On the evening of August 8, 1996, after shooting on the Keldysh , a member of the team poisoned a canteen meal, putting phencyclidine in the clam chowder. 56 people, including Cameron, had to be taken to hospital and quarantined. Despite an investigation the charge of poisoning, probably contained, was never identified or convicted 17 . Excited by Cameron’s requirement, stunt coordinator Simon Crane insulted him in public, and the stunt team left the set. The incident was not resolved until Crane agreed to apologize to Cameron 17 .

Without taking into account inflation of the dollar, Titanic was at its output the most expensive film ever made, with a budget equivalent to 200 million 49 . The original budget was $ 110 million , 50 , 6 , an amount that Cameron himself considered a posteriori very optimistic, given the complexity of the film. To minimize the risks, Fox shared Titanic’s distribution rights with Paramount for $ 65 million, a rare feat in Hollywood. Fox and undertook the operating internationally, while Paramount distributed the film in the United States 51. To make matters worse, the Fox first set the release date for July 1997, a deadline impossible to keep on time. The budget overruns ended up worrying officials who were more present on the set. Cameron , who had already given up half its stamp to get the green light from the studio, gave the other half and assumed responsibility 52 .

In response to rumors about filming and budget overruns, the film press began a smear campaign against the film. Cameron is wrongly suspected of being little looking on the security team 53 . Titanic is considered the epitome of the irresponsible big-budget movie, and journalists predict a commercial flop that will ruin the Fox. Some executives of the studio resign in anticipation of failure, and it is even suggested to make the film a mini-series 54 .

When post-production caused further overruns, Cameron offered the studio to waive his royalties. Approved, such a decision would amount to that it does not touch a penny for 3 years of work. But Bill Mechanic, chief executive of Fox, says the director and refuses the offer 52 . Cameron was able to tap a percentage of the revenue and enjoy the monumental success of the film. To give Cameron the necessary turnaround time, Fox pushed the US release date back to December 1997, an unusual time for such high-budget films.

Special effects

To achieve the special effects of his film, James Cameron sought the services of a company he himself created in 1993, Digital Domain 55 . The special effects were supervised by Rob Legato 56 . Their role consisted in giving life to the ship during the crossing, then sinking, in the overall plans. Indeed, it was impossible to film the real size scene in motion. The studio has been responsible for placing digital actors (the main characters) on the model 1/ 20 th. This is particularly the case in the plane where Jack and Fabrizio are the bow as the camera flies over the ship, plan to which the film’s producers were given the nickname “plan to a million dollars 57 “. For this one, Cameron asked them to imagine that they realized an advertisement for the White Star Line , the ship sailing off California 58 . Actors turned on a black background, with black suits with circles similar to ping-pong balls, then computer scientists used them to reconstruct a virtual lining of the actor’s movements. For this purpose, Legato has even had the faces of his children reproduced among the many faces created for the film 59 .

During the sinking, Digital Domain also resorted to virtual liners, particularly for the fall of passengers when the rear part of the ship rises above the water. It is originally thirteen meters falls, but the special effects have made falls of 60 meters and over 60 . Similarly, when the heroes kiss before the final dive of the ship, they are on a decor of fifteen meters above a green background. The rest of the ship falls, tub of water and other elements were added later 61 . Other elements, such as steam or steam escaping from the passengers’ mouths, are also the work of Studio 19 .

Digital Domain is finally the author of the computer sequence presenting the sinking at the beginning of the film. Cameron wanted indeed the sinking on its technical part is explained from the beginning of the film, to then be able to concentrate on the action proper 62 . The way in which the collision is shown Cameron was an assumption on his part that was confirmed by expeditions to the wreck 63 .

“Everyone can make beautiful pictures of unknown things. Few can give a mirror to reality. ”

– James Cameron 56

Costumes, makeup and attitudes

In order to recreate the atmosphere of the 1910s , costumes were created by Deborah Scott, as well as many accessories, plates to the hangers 64 , 65 . The many extras all in period costume, and the main characters for their part many different outfits, as was the tradition of the time in the upper echelons of society 66 .

The greatest efforts of makeup and clothing have however been deployed in the scenes of the sinking and especially after this one. Passengers who died of cold have indeed been artificially “frozen” 67 , an operation that has constantly had to be repeated 68 , 69 , the makeup being always diluted because of the water.

So that the actors embodying passengers first class behave like those would have done at the time, a teacher, Lynne Hockney was responsible for teaching them the label 70 . It was indeed necessary that women learn to wear a brace to keep the guests, Hockney has even taught the actors to laugh as we did at the time 71 .

Cameron behind the camera

In addition to being the film’s director James Cameron also shot some scenes, sometimes in a special way 72 . The images of the introductory credits, showing the ship leaving the port of Southampton as archival footage, are not actual period images. They have instead been shot by Cameron himself with a vintage camera crank, shooting 16 frames per second 73 .

He also filmed a more perilous scene, that of the death of Captain Smith on the navigating bridge . The scene was shot with a stuntman, in a submerged steel cabin, and the room was really flooded, Cameron filming in a diving suit 74 , 75 . Cameron is also the author of Jack’s drawings. These are his hands that we see in the scene where Jack draws 6 .

Soundtrack

Main article: Titanic (soundtrack) .

The soundtrack of the film, composed by James Horner , became the best-selling orchestral soundtrack of all time. It includes the performance of Canadian singer Celine Dion . The song that is a hit is actually a test soundtrack. It is a global success which remained sixteen weeks in first place in sales to the US and has sold 11 million copies 76 . The, 25 million records had already passed in the world 77 .

This success led to the production of a new album, Back to “Titanic” with new songs and covers, such as Come Josephine in My Flying Machine by Moya Brennan , and some tunes played by the ensemble I Salonisti ( who embodies the orchestra in the film). This record has become number two in the United States 77 sales .

James Cameron did not want a song for his movie. So secret that James Horner asked Dion to participate in recordings, the result finally convinced the director to the end credits 78 . This song, My Heart Will Go On , is awarded with an Oscar 8 and is a worldwide success. In France , the single is certified diamond disc 79 .

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Original Sound Track

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Output

Titanic is presented for the first time at the Tokyo International Film Festival on 1 st November 1997. Then he released Dec. 19 to the United States and Canada , and on 7, 8 and 9 January 1998 in most countries Europe . One of the last countries to receive him is Pakistan , in which he leaves on 14 August 1998 8 .

Millvina Dean , last survivor of the Titanic , died onat the age of 97. When the ship sank, she was only 2 months old. She was invited to the premiere of the film but declined the proposal, stating that having seen Atlantic, latitude 41 ° had been too painful 16 .

The film is released in VHS on80 . It was then released on DVD on, with for only bonus a trailer. This is the first DVD to sell over a million copies. A new “collector” edition with two or four DVDs was released on. The film is offered in two parts, on two DVDs, offering three audio commentaries and documentaries that can be viewed during the film. The two additional DVDs contain cut scenes and documentaries. The two-DVD edition is called the “special edition” and the four-disc edition is called the “Deluxe Edition” 81 , 82 .

Jon Landau , the producer of Titanic , implied that a release in Blu-ray format was possible in the spring of 2012, in concomitance with the new release of the movie in the cinema, this time in 3D version, in the same period 83 .

Public reception and criticism

Titanic garnered a revenue of $ 1,845,034,188 worldwide, becoming the first film to reach the symbolic billion, and setting records for number of entries 84 (128 million cumulative inflows to States United a year after its release, 21.8 million in France and 17.2 million in the United Kingdom ). After having supplanted La Grande Vadrouille , considered unbeatable since 1966 85 , Titanic remains to this day the film having won the highest score at the French box office , with 21,465,445 admissions, in front of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis ( 2008).) with 20,478,523 entries and Intouchables ( 2011 ) with 19,385,740 admissions, in the history of the most watched films in France 86 . He was also at the head of the global box office for twelve years before being caught by Avatar (2009) in early 2010, after its release in 3D around the world in 2012, the film wins an additional recipe of $ 341,338,114 becoming the second film has surpassed 2 billion with revenue totaling $ 2,186,372,302 87 .

On its release and after, Titanic has been able to satisfy criticism to varying degrees. Thus, in CineLive journalist on Laurent Weil speaks of a “great film” and said that Cameron signs here his “most ambitious feature film pleasure for eyes and heart 88 “. The magazine first told Cameron that he is a “virtuoso”, and that “if producers are not safe to recoup their investment, it has us (well, you) for our (your) money 89 “. Télérama , more mixed, gives it a medium note, considering however that, if Cameron sometimes simplifies, he “did not limit himself to exhibit his special effects, he made cinema” 90. Jean Tulard , in his Guide des films , gives him three stars and considers that, if the sinking has already been mentioned in many films, “this one surpasses them without discussion” 91 .

The Metacritic site reports an average of 74 out of 100 out of thirty four critics 92 . The New York Times , concludes, his criticism by making the parallel between the film and the liner on their reputation for greatness, but that ” Titanicis too good to cast 93 “. The American critic Roger Ebert is very enthusiastic, considering that all elements of the film are balanced, and that the special effects, far from attracting the viewer’s attention, simply to do their job 94 . He ranks it as the ninth best film of 1997 95 .

Some critics were more mixed about the script and the dialogues. Thus, Richard Corliss of Time is that the film lacks interesting emotional elements 96 . The Los Angeles Times is particularly scathing, saying that “what really makes us cry is the fact that Cameron thinks that writing such films is within his abilities. Not only this is not the case, but it does not even approach 97 “. Director Robert Altman said that it was the worst movie he had ever seen in his life 98. In 2003 , spectators of the BBC Oneawarded him the title of “worst film of all time 99 “.

Box office

Main article: Box office .
Country Box Office Classification of all times Comparison with the film rated n o 1
Global box office $ 2,187,463,944 2 e $ 2,782,275,172
( Avatar )
Box Office United States – Canada $ 600,788,188 3 e $ 936,662,225
( Star Wars: The Awakening of the Force )
Box office United States – Canada Adjusted after inflation $ 1,204,368,000 5 th $ 1,719,399,546
( Gone with the wind )
Box Office Belgium 3,510,221 entries 1 st –
Box office France 21,774,181 entries 1 st –
Box Office Switzerland 2,052,496 entries 1 st –

Broadcast on television

The film meets a great success on French television where audiences remain high despite the duration of the film and its wide exploitation in the cinema and video.

  • In , during its first broadcast in clear (excluding Canal + , which took place on), on two nights on TF1 ( 19 and 20 ), the film was seen by 7.7 million for its first part (32.3% audience share – PDA) and 8.2 million for the second part (34.2% PDA);
  • The second broadcast, the  on the same channel, brought together 6.6 million viewers (34.1% of PDA);
  • The third, the  again on the same channel, gathered a little over 7 million viewers (35.8% of PDA);
  • The fourth took place on , still on TF1, this time at the beginning of the afternoon;
  • The fifth, concomitant with the release in 3D at the cinema and the anniversary of the sinking, the (one hundred years after the disaster), attracted almost 6.2 million viewers on France 2 (26.4% PDA – topping the evening’s hearings). However, five days earlier, the channel had already broadcast a docufiction on the Titanic in the early evening (13.8% PDA – 3 rd on the time slot) 100 ;
  • The sixth broadcast took place on France 4 onand brought together 1.5 million viewers for 7.1% of the total number of viewers, placing the channel at the top of TNT audiences 101 ;
  • The seventh took place on the same channel at the end of the afternoon. 102 ;
  • The eighth broadcast took place on on France 3 . It attracted 2.9 million viewers for 13.9% of PDM 103 ;
  • The ninth broadcast of the unencrypted film took place on on TF1 104 , 105 , 106 , bringing together nearly 4.9 million viewers for 23.8% of PDM 107 , 108 .
  • The tenth broadcast took place on on TMC 109 , 110 , 111 and attracted more than 1.1 million viewers for 6.5% of PDM 112 , 113 , 114 .
  • The eleventh broadcast of the film took place on on TFX 115 and gathered 762,000 viewers for 4.3% PDM 116 .

Three-dimensional spring

After Titanic , James Cameron no longer produces feature film for more than 10 years before returning with his first three-dimensional film , Avatar 117 . It is by presenting it at Comic-Con in San Diego he announced the upcoming release of a version of Titanic in the same format 118 . He says during the festival that after doing some tests, “It looks spectacular. But you really need the director to be involved to make sure the decisions are made properly. ” According to him, “it takes a year to eighteen months to do this, depending on the complexity” 119. In March 2010, Cameron announced plans to release the film in the spring of 2012, for the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic 120 . Indeed, the director openly opposes conversions in 3D made in emergencies, such as the Clash of the Titans and therefore wants to take his time 121 .

The film is then remastered in 4K format before being converted into 3D relief. Its international release is set for theThe week before the 100 th anniversary of the maiden voyage and sinking of the liner 122 . The first official poster is unveiled on November 16, 2011 123 . The 4K master made for the occasion will be used for the Blu-ray edition, released in September 2012 124 .

The director has only modified one scene in the 3D version. After the release of the film in 1997, James Cameron receives an email from American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson , explaining to him that the sky Rose observes, when she stands at a piece of wood after the sinking , is inaccurate. The sky was not the starry sky it should have seen. As good perfectionist as it is, Cameron modified in the version in relief the sky, following a map given by Tyson 125 .

Success is back with more than $ 300 million worldwide , including a triumph for its release in China, where the film breaks the record for the best start for a foreign film in a week with a recipe for $ 58 million 126 . In the US, the film works very well, exceeding the result of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace also emerged 3D weeks earlier 127 . In France, the film will exceed one million admissions, bringing the cumulative score to nearly 22 million viewers.

Impact

Regain of interest for the Titanic 

The film of James Cameron , in addition to its global success, stimulus strongly the public interest for the Titanic and its history 128 . Many films had previously been filmed on the subject (including a Nazi blockbuster and a film with the help of some survivors: Atlantic, latitude 41 ° 6 ), but none had generated such media hype and popular 129 .

Indeed, this film follows the publication of many books, sometimes their reprint or translation (this is for example the case of Rescape story of the “Titanic” of Colonel Archibald Gracie , died December 4, 1912). Cameron was not the only one to have been inspired by the Titanic at that time since Robert Lieberman released shortly before a TV movie ( The “Titanic” ) with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Peter Gallagher 130 , while the video game developer Cyberflix released in October 1996 a video game titled“Titanic”: A timeless adventure 131 .

This renewed interest has also been expressed on the Internet , with the birth of many sites on the subject, and passionate communities 132 . Numerous reproductions of the ship’s objects, as well as film props (lifejackets, dishes), sold in large quantities in the years following the success of Titanic 133 , and the Titanic associations , such as the Titanic Historical Society founded by Edward Kamuda in 1967 Note 8 , the French association of the Titanic 134 and associations of many other countries 129experienced a sharp increase in the number of members following the release of the film. In the case of the French association Titanic , this success allowed the organization to win a victory, since in 2000 , it managed to rehabilitate the musician Roger Bricoux , died on board in 1912 , who was accused of desertion during the First World War , the French administration did not receive a death certificate 135 .

Finally, the craze for the Titanic resulted in the production of a new film by James Cameron , The Phantoms of “Titanic” , in 2003 , as well as the creation of a musical on the theme of Titanic in 1997 128 , 129 . An exhibition devoted to the film, recreating some particular sets of 5000 m 2 , also emerged at Wembley Stadium in London in 1999 , before traveling the world 136 . In France , an exhibition entitled “Treasures ofTitanic “has meanwhile held in 2003 at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie de la Villette 137 .

The Titanic film also had a more unexpected consequence: since its release, cruise ships have banned passengers from reaching the bow , passengers attempting to emulate the heroes of film 138 .

Consequences for the actors

The success of Titanic gives a phenomenal boost to the career of the main actors. The one who benefits the most is Leonardo DiCaprio . Many fans literally fall in love with him, jostling to see the movie 139 again . The newspapers speak of “DiCaprio-mania” to designate this phenomenon 140 , 141 . This frenzy, however, is not to everyone’s taste, and unlike Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart , DiCaprio is not named at the Oscars 142 . His career as a star is however well launched. So, the other two movies where he starred that year, Romeo + Juliet andThe Man with the Iron Mask take advantage of this new notoriety. The audience for the second film is 55% female and 46% under 25 years old 143 .

DiCaprio becomes a coveted player. Thus, its stamp, which was only $ 2.5 million for Titanic , increases to 20 million for La Plage , released in 2000 141 . He then filmed with directors such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese , was nominated three times at the Oscars and won a Golden Globe 144 . However, he regrets having this label idol he never desired 145 .

Kate Winslet , for her part, becomes a famous actress and turns later in several films awarded 146 . However, filming in freezing water having proved challenging, she said not wanting to tour with James Cameron unless we offered him a lot of money 147 . Finally, Bernard Hill saw his career experience a certain impetus and participated, by playing King Theoden , the adaptation of the Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson . It is in fact showing two of the three films having received eleven Oscars 148 .

Titanic in popular culture

Titanic , through its global success, has been the subject of many winks and parodies in movies and successful shows. Iconic scenes were subsequently taken up. Thus, in the movie Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra of Alain Chabat , the pirate Red Beard, like Jack, cries out to the bow of his ship “I am the king of the world”; likewise for a scene in the horror movie Remember Me … last summer 2 or the characters of Julie and Karla (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brandy ) stand in the back of a boat and scream ” I’m the king of the world “. The Parody Movie Scary Moviewill also take this famous scene when two of the characters of the film are in a cinema and watch trailers. In The Simpsons, the film is the band Green Day parodying the Titanic orchestra by singing closer to you, my God on a shipwrecked barge 149 . The scene was also parodied in the film Osmosis Jones of Farrelly Brothers 150 . In2009 , more than ten years after the release of the film, Sacha Baron Cohen also parodies the film in Brüno 151. Recently the scene of the movie on the bow of the ship was also parodied in the film The Teeth of the Night . The scene in the frozen water was parodied in the movie Welcome on board with Franck Dubosc .

The film has also been parodied in several television shows. Thus, the DeLuxe edition of the film offers three of them. In one of them, Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn are trying to convince James Cameron to make an unlikely sequel featuring the shipwreck victims residing in a mutant form in a city underwater 152 . Another, taken from Saturday Night Live and performed with the help of Cameron and Bill Paxton has an end “improved” the film in which Rose proves to be a pathological liar whose story contains many inconsistencies 18 .

Other parodies have sprung up like Billy Crystal’s broadcast on the occasion of the 70 th Academy Awards 153 , as well as the French parodist Mozinor Titanic Park 154 .

Ranking

  • Most successful worldwide box office from 1998 to 2010.
  • Second biggest global box office success since 2010.
  • Biggest annual success in the world.
  • Director’s greatest success from 1998 to 2010.
  • Second greatest success of the director.
  • First film to exceed the billion dollar recipe in the world.

distinctions

In 1998, Titanic was nominated for 14 Oscars , the highest number of nominations, equaling Eve in 1951 . Analysts believe the film could have broken the record if he was not snubbed for Best Actor or Best Screenplay 155 . He received 11 awards and equaled the historical record of Ben-Hur in 1960 . Among the rewards he receives are the exclaims “I am the king of the world! Just like Jack Dawson in the movie. In 2004, Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director . March 23, 1998 at the 70 th Academy Awards , Cameron The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King equaled the record of Ben-Hur and Titanic , also winning 11 Oscars.

Titanic also receives many other awards around the world, including four Golden Globes out of eight nominations. The music of James Horner is particularly rewarded, receiving an Oscar and two Golden Globes , especially through the song My Heart Will Go On performed by Celine Dion, which is a worldwide success.

Awards

  • Oscar :
    • Best film
    • Best Director
    • Best decorations
    • Best photography
    • Best Costume Design
    • Best artistic direction
    • Best editing
    • Best Movie Music : James Horner
    • Best Original Song : James Horner
    • Best sound mix
    • Best visual effects
  • Golden Globe Award :
    • Best film
    • Best Director : James Cameron
    • Best Movie Music : James Horner
    • Best Original Song : Celine Dion
  • Saturn Awards :
    • Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Gloria Stuart
  • Satellite Awards :
    • Best film
    • Best Director : James Cameron
    • Best movie music : James Horner
    • Best Original Song : James Horner and Will Jennings
    • Best Artistic Director Peter Lamont
    • Best costumes : Deborah Lynn Scott
    • Best editing : Conrad Buff and Richard A. Harris
  • MTV Movie Awards :
    • Best film
    • Best male revelation: Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Golden Reel Awards:
    • Best Music in a Movie: Jim Henrikson and Joe E. Rand
    • Best dialogue and dubbing in a movie: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Hugh Waddell, Claire Sanfilippo, John H. Arrufat, Richard Quinn, Sue Fox, Harriet Fidlow, Richard Corwin, Cindy Marty and Lee Lemont.
    • Best sound effects and sound effects in a movie: Tom Bellfort, Christopher Boyes , Thomas W. Small, Ethan Van der Ryn, Scott Guitteau, Christopher Scarabosio, Scott Curtis, Shannon Mills, Tammy Fear, Michael Dressel and David L. Horton Jr.
  • Empire Awards :
    • Best film
    • Best British Actress : Kate Winslet

Appointments

  • Oscar :
    • Best actress : Kate Winslet
    • Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Gloria Stuart
    • Best makeup and hairstyles
  • Golden Globe Award :
    • Best Actor : Leonardo DiCaprio
    • Best Actress : Kate Winslet
    • Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Gloria Stuart
    • Best Screenplay : James Cameron
  • BAFA Awards :
    • Best movie : James Cameron and Jon Landau
    • Best Director : James Cameron
    • Best Photography : Russell Carpenter
    • Best Movie Music : James Horner
    • Best sound : Gary Rydstrom , Tom Johnson, Gary Summers and Mark Ulano
    • Best decorations : Peter Lamont
    • Best Visual Effects : Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher and Michael Kanfer
    • Best costumes : Deborah Lynn Scott
    • Best makeup and hairstyles : Tina Earnshaw, Simon Thompson and Kay Georgiou
    • Best Editing : Conrad Buff , James Cameron and Richard A. Harris
  • Saturn Awards :
    • Best action, adventure or thriller movie
    • Best special DVD edition of a classic
  • Satellite Awards :
    • Best visual effects : Robert Legato
    • Best actor : Leonardo DiCaprio
    • Best actress : Kate Winslet
    • Best Photography : Russell Carpenter
    • Best Original Screenplay : James Cameron
  • MTV Movie Awards :
    • Best female revelation: Kate Winslet
    • Best On-Screen Team: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
    • Best villain: Billy Zane
    • Best Movie Song: Celine Dion
    • Best kiss: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
    • Best action sequence

The history of compliance

Titanic was made with the help of two historians, Don Lynch and Ken Marschall . 9 Their book, The Great Illustrated History of “Titanic” had made a strong impression on Cameron, especially the paintings of Marschall. Some have been identical in the film, such as the Carpathian approach or the arrival of the Titanic at Cherbourg 156 , 157. He was, however, less present on the set, being busy with illustrations of a new book. If he had concerns about the film, including the fact that the scenario would focus on a fictional love story, he finally saw his fears disappear by visiting the scene 158 . He said about the re-enactment that “even the rattan seats are just right” 159 .

However, if the recovery is pretty close to reality, the script sometimes takes liberties with history 160 . Thus, the love affair between two members of different classes would have been extremely difficult to conceive of at the time, because of the barriers (physical and moral) that separated them 6 and it would have been almost inconceivable that a woman of the high society, only 17 years old, have sex with a man, even if Rose turns out to be rebellious. However, it is anyway a fictional story. The main characters (Jack, Rose, Jack’s family, and Jack’s two friends) are fictional, but live with real characters ( Ismay , Andrews , , JJ Astor etc.). Cameron, however, was inspired by Emily Ryerson and Marian Thayer, two high-society women from Philadelphia , to create the character of Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Rose 6 . Similarly, Cameron was inspired by Rose, from Helen Churchill Candee , an American journalist and writer, about the shipwreck and her romance with a passenger on the liner 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 . After the movie, a grave in a Halifax cemeteryparticularly attracted attention, that of a certain “J. Dawson” in the “Titanic” section of the Fairview Lawn Cemetery. This is not Jack Dawson, but Joseph Dawson, a stoker died in the disaster 165 . Moreover, during the shipwreck of the ship, we can see the billionaire John Jacob Astor in the Great Staircase , shortly before the glass dome breaks under the pressure of water. However, the latter did not sink with the ship, since his body was found a week later by the Mackay-Bennett. His body was mutilated and sooty, which suggested that he had been crushed by the fall of a chimney. This thesis was nevertheless invalidated by the historian George Behe. The latter having seen the reports of those who fished the body, almost intact [ref. necessary] .

The film depicting historical characters, some of their actions may go against the truth, or represent facts not proven. Thus, the character of Bruce Ismay is not presented in his best light, appearing as a pretentious (he claims to have chosen the name of the ship, which is wrong), ignorant (he does not know who Sigmund Freud ) and especially guilty of pressuring the captain to increase the speed of the ship. This last point is not proven to date, since if a female passenger testified that she heard such a conversation between Smith and Ismay (and refused to confirm his statements under oath), the latter always defended himself 166. Several facts plead in his favor, and several historians now take the defense of Ismay 167 , 168 , who was also cleared of all charges of misconduct by the two commissions of inquiry following the sinking. .

The most controversial fact, however, is how the film deals with the death of First Officer William Murdoch . This one draws indeed on two men before returning the weapon against him. His family has protested strongly about this scene, 169 and Cameron himself has expressed regret about it. This scene is inspired by a rumor circulated by several newspapers of the time that an officer (usually supposed to be Murdoch) committed suicide. However, the thesis was overturned by several witnesses. Thus, the second officer, Charles Lightoller , stated that Murdoch could not commit suicide because he had seen him shortly before the final dive of the ship. Similarly, in his workSurvivor of ‘Titanic’ , Archibald Gracie also states that if shots were fired, he would have heard 170 . The idea of suicide is generally refuted 171 . It was also assumed that the officer who ended his days may be Wilde , Moody or Smith , though again, testimonials oppose 172. The corpses of none of these officers having been found or identified, it is impossible to know what it is. In addition, none of the other corpses recovered contains bullet wounds. Thus, if the hypothesis of suicide can not be totally denied, it remains very likely that it is only a rumor.

In the show False Connection n o 35 issued by the website Screenrush the authors of the emission point some anachronisms in the film: Jack mentions a fishing on Lake Wissota (Wisconsin, USA). The lake in question is an artificial lake created in 1917, 5 years after the sinking of the Titanic . Similarly, in her cabin, Rose unpacks a painting by Picasso , Les Demoiselles d’Avignon . If it is possible that Rose acquired the painting (painted in 1907), it is not possible that this one disappeared in the sinking of the liner. Indeed, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was bought by the MoMAof New York in 1939 173 .

One can also be surprised that Spider Lovejoy, the valet of Caledon Hockley, can dispose of a Colt M1911, just released in production at the end of the previous year, and for the only use of the American army. That a civilian holds one, which is more, silver and engraved, just four months after the first series, was almost impossible, especially in a very distinguished environment, since it would probably mean that it was necessarily acquired so fraudulent.

The trunk, reassembled by the team of the submarine treasure hunter Brock Lovett in 1996 is immediately “attacked” with the electric grinder in order to open the door. It is imagined that scientists would not use such “barbaric” ways with such a resurgent treasure from the bottom of the oceans, but that they would instantly place it in a freshwater tank in order to prevent the contact of the air accentuates very quickly the phenomenon of oxidation, as it always has in the recovery of metal objects engulfed for a long time. From then on, we would try to open it as gently as possible, without damaging it. Similarly, it is with too much casualness that the crew of Lovett drives his submarine robot. He takes the risk not only of

In the film, after the collision of the ship, Major Smith comes to ask radio operators Jack Phillips and Harold Brice to send the new distress signal “SOS”, when in truth he asked them, at first, to use the most commonly used signal at the time, the “CQD”. And it was only during a new passage of the commander that the radio assistant, Bride, a bit mocking, did not suggest to his colleague to send the “SOS”, with these words; “Sending the SOS is the new call, and maybe it’s your last chance to send it! Which made the three of them laugh. Phillips then executed using this new code, more easily recognizable, alternating with the old, and the indicative of the Titanic , MGY; ” CQD, CQD, SOS, Titanic, position 41.44 N 50.24 W … SINKING … “.

From the perspective of the representation of the sinking, Cameron published in 2012 documentary “Titanic”: The final word that presents the latest findings on the wreck and the wreck 174 . He explains some errors:

  • in the film, the ship breaks behind the third chimney. Since 2011, it has been known that the vessel cut itself just in front of the latter, so between the second and the third, in other words, in the middle and not between the third and the fourth 174 ;
  • in the film, after the break, the stern is pulled by the bow and stands vertically before sinking, always vertically. In fact, testimonies of time in support, as well as the calculations of the software of shipbuilding or the observations made on the wreck, explain that the stern did not stand up, it remained “flat”, keeping the cottage on port side. It eventually sank while bobbing on this side 174 ;
  • still in the film, distress flares fired are white. James Cameron leaves room for doubt as to the color of these rockets, for lack of clear testimony, but especially because in 2004, a disemboweled case of rockets was found on the wreck. The tips of the rockets, loose, let appear in the interior of these dyes of various natures: orange, blue, gray 174 … Further researches nevertheless tend to conclude that the original rockets were very white. History Channelhas also admitted to retouching the photos of the box in order to bring out the supposed colors of rockets 175 .

Around the film

Suzy Amis , who plays Lizzy Calvert, the older daughter of Rose, married director James Cameron on June 4, 2000. They had three children.

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