12.19.2007

Titanic


Larry tells me that it's ten years ago today that Titanic sailed into theaters. Why does that mean anything to me? Well, I'm almost certain it was the first non-Disney film I ever saw in the cinema. It was while we were living in Casablanca, and we had to buy black-market tickets, as I recall: even in Morocco, this movie was an incredible hit.

What a film to discover the cinema experience with. It was simply overwhelming. The odd thing is, I can't remember exactly what I thought of it. Oh, I liked it, but I don't know if I loved it as much as everyone did. I did, of course, fall head over heels for Leo. What twelve-year-old wouldn't have? And I remember arguing with a boy in my class who, I believe, called Rose a "triple salope" and had quite an elaborate justification for that. I kicked him in the shins for it - at the time, this was my preferred flirting method.

Ten years. It's seems like a long time, but it really is quite short. I never watched the film again, and I don't feel the need to. But I suppose you could say that day, my cinephilia must've been born.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember every girl fawning over Leonardo when I was twelve, which is why I, and all the other boys in class declared the film to be the absolute worst evil of all time. Of course, the fact that Titanic is a 3 hour romance movie might've had something to do with it. And Celine Dion didn't really help either. As a result, I consciously avoided the movie for years, which evolved in unconscious avoidance I guess, because as of today, I've never seen it. Am I missing out?

Buying black-market tickets for a movie sounds quite exciting by the way... :)

Ten years is a long time when you're 22 years old. It's almost half your life.

Hedwig said...

Hehe, ah, yes, Celine Dion...I played that song. And sang MANY of her songs out loud with my best friend Karine when I was 11 - my skeletons are falling out of the closet fast.

Are you missing out? No, I suppose not. Technically the film is amazing, but the plot really isn't all that strong, and 3 hours is a long sit. The beauty of the film is in the small details (the band that kept playing, the captain going down with his ship etc), not the main romance. And well, it's all grand! and big! and momentous! but ten years later on the small screen I'm not sure that survives. All in all, it's much better than Pearl Harbor, but that isn't saying much, is it?

Craig Kennedy said...

I was a wee bit older than 12 when Titanic came out. Ok, I was older then than you are now.

My opinion at the time was that it was fine. The dialogue was pretty bad, but Kate and Leo were a nice pair (I've always had a crush on her) and the recreation of the ship was pretty damn cool.

But then the box office, and the hype and the awards and the annoying speeches, and Cameron having a public snit with Ken Turan who didn't like the movie...really soured me on it and it sort of became my whipping boy of Big Hollywood Bad.

I haven't seen it since either, but I have since reconsidered my opinion of it.