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Did the love for ‘Titanic’ sink?
Titanic came out a little more than 10 years ago, won a record-tying 11 Oscars and grossed $600 million here and hauled in another $1.2 billion in foreign box office.
That makes it the top-grossing movie of all time. Even when you adjust for inflation, it’s still at number 6, just behind The Ten Commandments. Gone with the Wind has the lead at $3.4 billion.
So why is it surprisingly hard to get people to admit they like Titanic? Or at least once loved it?
I still do and I say that without shame or fear of spiteful comments. It topped my 10 best list in 1997, and I saw the film somewhere around 7 or 8 times - in the theater. I watched it again recently, and I think that the movie still works wonders.
Is it the best film of all time? Oh, no. Not by a long shot. Wouldn’t make a top 50 of mine. Might make a top 100. I can say this with certainty, however. If you pit Titanic against, say, Gone with the Wind, I’ll take Titanic any day of the week and twice on Sundays - even if that does take up one-fourth of the day.
Yet looking around on the Net and other places, it seems like a lot of people disagree with me. It’s IMDB entry rates it at 7.1 out of 10, good but surprisingly low for the highest grosser of all time. The Zagat Movie Guide scores it at 19, the top of the “good to very good” range (30 is “perfect”). Its entry in that book, based on surveys, says that “some torpedo the ‘shallow’ ‘cardboard characters’ ‘soap-opera-esque script’ and ‘weak acting’ as all wet.”
OK, stop right there. I call BS on the weak acting - not in a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates and Gloria Stuart. And yeah, the script is rather soapy, but I challenge the idea that the writing is bad.
The dialogue is certainly tinny and silly. That’s why, when radio played a mix of “My Heart Will Go On” with dialogue interspersed through it, it sounded lame, because dialogue is not Titanic’s strong suit. You could get away with Jerry Maguire soundbites in Bruce Springsteen’s “Secret Garden” because Cameron Crowe is an ace dialogue writer. James Cameron is not.
But people forget, a screenplay is more than just the dialogue. Titanic has a very smart story structure, in that Cameron explains how the ship sinks early in the film, so we can understand exactly what happens later when the actual sinking occurs. That’s screenplay, not direction.
Titanic haters may also scoff, “Oh, that made all its money because teenage girls wanted to see Leo over and over again.” It’s true that teen girls made up a big chunk of the audience. I vividly remember seeing the film at the Dayton Mall and spotting a half-dozen girls just absolutely sobbing and clutching each other at the end.
But let’s get some perspective here, folks. You don’t make $600 million, or $875 million in today’s dollars, solely on the strength of teen crushes. You make that kind of money because a LOT of people in both sexes and all age groups liked it.
So why do people seem lukewarm to the film today? A think a lot of it has to do with people wanting to show how “hip” they are by slamming the popular choice, never mind that these people are often the biggest posers of all. More than anything else, I think people got tired of Titanic more than they actively disliked it.
Titanic is most certainly a flawed film. The popular choice for the film that “really should have gotten all the attention” is LA Confidential. And yes, it’s probably a “better” film in that it’s not so melodramatic and the dialogue is much sharper. I put it in my 10 best list too.
But Titanic still topped the list because it’s greater than the sum of its parts. No matter what its flaws, no film lingered in my memory more than Titanic did. I wasn’t just watching a movie. I was participating in an experience.
Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere put it very well when he recently wrote (emphasis his):
“It’s hard to find anyone in the intelligentsia who will admit to even liking it. It’s a deeply despised film.
“And yet the negative feelings about it — almost all of this coming from know-it-all film snobs — over the last ten years have convinced me with more certainty than almost anything else that I’ve seen and felt over my 27 years of writing about movies that the smarty-pants crowd is sometimes deeply full of it …
“Titanic didn’t make more money than any film in the history of motion pictures because it provided cheap emotional junk-food highs to teenage girls swooning over Leonardo DiCaprio. It did this because it touched people (including my cranky, emotionally shut-off father) in a way that, like it or not, was extremely primal and shattering.”
I agree. But where do you stand on Titanic?
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Sir Critic muses
Comments
By Mandy
January 10, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
I saw “Titanic” at least 6 times when it was in theaters. I have always loved it and always will. I put it in the DVD player on snowy days or when I’m feeling in the mood for a romance movie. I watch it more than any other film I own. (My second most-watched movie is “The Notebook.”)By Kim
January 10, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
I loved the movie when it came out - I went to see it at the theater multiple times too. A film doesn’t make that much money without people going back more than once! I bought the video too and watched it recently. I don’t know why, but it really has lost some luster for me, but not for some grandiose reason. I do think that I just got tired of it and Celine Dion’s endless playing of the, but I don’t think that means it’s not a great film. As far as the acting - Billy Zane is the one that ruined it - I thought he was TERRIBLE in this, which is a same because I think everyone else was pretty much wonderful. Though I confess that I don’t get the flap about Leo - I don’t find him at all attractive, but we’re all different and I admire his acting skills. He’s not the best in my book, but he does a good enough job. I am a costume freak, so that was one of my favorite parts of the film! I even bought the Rose doll from Franklin Mint with the little replica outfits! So yeah - I’m a fan - but not as passionate about it as I once was.By cathy
January 10, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
Well, the reason there are many types of movies is that there are many types of cinema-goers. I personally did NOT LIKE Titanic at all. I’m sorry if that drives you crazy, ashley. I’m not offended that the rest of you DID like the film. When I went to the theater to see it, I was bored, looking at my watch, and rolling my eyes. Others in the theater were weeping and loving it. It’s a very personal thing. In Titanic, I thought that Leo way over-acted his part, and therefore I never felt empathy for his character. I found the dialogue to be inane and did not think the movie was well edited. For my taste, other films in 1997 were much more enjoyable. As Good As It Gets� spoke much more deeply to me emotionally, and had more durability. LA Confidential had the most sophisticated script and intelligent dialog. In Ulee’s Gold, Peter Fonda acted with magnificent tenderness and emotion, really becoming believable. But that’s just me.By Barb =:)
January 10, 2008 7:18 AM | Link to this
I loved Titanic and still do. I saw it in the theater more than 10 times, not to mention watching on video and DVD. I just felt the special effects were so great and I wanted to see those on the big screen as much as I could. It touched me and got me interested in the actual Titanic. I can’t get enough shows on History Channel or Discovery about it. I also loved the chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio. Can’t wait to see their new film together, “Revolutionary Road,” but I guess I’ll have to because I don’t think it is due out until December 2008. I think people think of Titanic as a sappy love story, so they won’t admit they liked it, but it really is suspenseful and gives a glimpse into what those people went through. Yes, you know the boat will sink, but you never think how many different ways people died … propellers, smoke stacks falling on them, lines snapping, etc. Or how those who survived got out of the bad situation. I thought it was a good overall package, appealing to both men and women.By TJ
January 9, 2008 6:25 PM | Link to this
I have to say, I liked Titanic, but wasn’t a huge fan. I was never a fan of sappy romances to begin with and felt that the movie was a little melodramatic at times. That being said, I think it’s a great movie. I think there was such a huge backlash partly because it was so successful and partly because it was EVERYWHERE! You couldn’t get away from the movie and I think people just got sick of seeing and hearing so much about it. The fact that Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio couldn’t match Titanic’s success may have disappointed some people.By ashley
January 9, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this
Hey Eric, I just wanted to comment about this particular article about The Titanic. I personally love the film. I think Kate Winslet was amazing, and there is certainly still a ton of love for that movie. i dont think people are sick of it just yet. I know people are extremely excited to see Kate & Leo team up again on Revolutionary Road. I cannot stand the Titanic haters. They drive me absolutely crazy. Kate Winslet, is an amazing actress. I dont know how people can put down her acting abilities. They have no right! Anyways I just wanted to comment. I am pretty passionate about that movie. So I will stick up for it when it is needed!