TITANIC – FILM ANALYSIS

Robin Zutshi
M2013MC022

Year1, M.A. In Media & Cultural Studies

School of Media and Cultural Studies (SMCS)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
TITANIC - FILM ANALYSIS

Theatrical Poster Of The Film

INTRODUCTION:

Titanic, released in 1997, is an American epic romantic film that ends in a disaster. The film has

been directed, written, co-produced, co-edited and partly financed by James Cameron. Kate Winslet

and Leonardo DiCaprio are in the lead roles. And they belong to two different social classes who

fell in love with each other in the film. The theme of the film is the love story between the two main

protagonists which is infused with the human loss. The film was released worldwide in English

language on December 19, 1997 and it was distributed by 20 th Century Fox (international) and

Paramount Pictures (USA). The characters in the film were Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy

Jane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, Gloria Stuart, David

Warner, Victor Garber, and Bill Paxton. The music was given by James Horner. It was the most

expensive film ever made at that time.

Titanic is basically a ship which unfortunately got hit with an ice berg and broke into two pieces,

thereby drowned maximum of the passengers boarded on the ship.

Plot:

The movie starts showing the drivers exploring the titanic and looking for the legendary Heart of

the Ocean necklace with a rare diamond which is worth million of dollars. But incidentally when

they are supposed to find the necklace, they come across a nude drawing (kept preserved by a safe).

Also the date mentioned on the sketch was April 14, 1912, the day Titanic struck the iceberg. And

the drawing ends up on the news and an old woman (Rose Dawson Calvert) recollects her memories

and identifies the sketch of herself. Then she visits the treasure hunter, Brock Lovett. Initially he

doubts her of being the woman in the sketch, so she explains the story of her experiences abroad

Titanic. At this point of time, the film goes into the flashback.

It was in the year 1912 in Southampton, when 17 year old first class passenger, Rose Dawson

Calvert boards the ship of dreams TITANIC along with her mother, Ruth and her fiancé, Cal

Hockley. Rose is engaged to Cal forcefully by her mother after her father died and they became
buried in debt. Because once she is engaged to Cal, she will be tied to his wealth and this will solve

their debt problems.

On the other hand the male protagonist, Jack Dawson finds his way onto the Titanic by winning the

lottery tickets during a card game five minutes before it leaves. He is a poor man so ends up in

second class in the ship. One night, Rose decides to end her life by jumping off from the ship into

the ocean. Jack sees her going towards the end of the ship and he convinces her not to do it. As soon

as he takes her down, she slips while trying to climb but ultimately Jack saves her life. Listening to

the ladies' scream, others arrive in and and they think that Jack was attacking her. But Rose comes

to the rescue and tells her fiancé that she was peering over the edge and Jack saves her from falling.

Cal is indifferent, but Rose indicates that he should be awarded because he saves her life. So he

(Cal) offers him a small amount of money. But rose interferes once again by saying that whether her

life meant so little for him. So he invites Jack to have dinner with them in the first class the

following night. This is the beginning of their tentative friendship, though Cal and Ruth are wary of

him. Post dinner, Jack asks Rose to come with him to enjoy the real party and she secretly

accompanies him at a party in steerage.

The following morning, Rose and Cal fight with each other on her friendship with Jack and he

forbids her to see Jack any more. But she eventually doesn't care about it and she goes to meet Jack

where the fabulous scene take place when she tells him that I am flying Jack. On the same day at

dusk time, she realizes that she prefers Jack over Cal and she takes Jack to her stateroom and shows

Cal's engagement present: the Heart of the Ocean. She insists him to draw the sketch of her putting

on only her necklace. She leaves with Jack and is followed by Cal's bodyguard. They evade him and

have sex in an auto-mobile that is stored on the ship. After having the intimate scenes in the car,

they go to the forward deck of the ship and witness the collision of the iceberg with the ship. They

also heard officials discussing the seriousness of the impact.

In the mean time, Jack is arrested because Cal played a game with him in which he consciously puts

the necklace in his coat and accused him of the theft. Jack is taken over by Master-at-arms' office
and handcuffed to a pipe.

Soon she realise that ship is sinking and she is desperate to free Jack. She flees from the scene and

go to rescue Jack from the room. She is able to free him by hitting the cuff with an iron rod. They

both returned to the top deck and Jack and Cal encourage her to board the life boat. Earlier she is

reluctant to go but Cal claims to get him and Jack off safely. As the lifeboat is going down, she

decides to to jump back to the ship to be with Jack. Cal takes his bodyguard's pistol and chased

them down the ship. He fired few bullets upon them but of no use. After using up his ammunition,

Cal realise that he gave his coat with diamond in the pocket to Rose. Cal later boards the lifeboat by

using a lost child to lie his way onto a boat.

Finally Rose and Jack manage to reach to the boat deck after facing severe difficulties and

obstacles. The people are falling down from the ship into the ocean and all the lifeboats depart from

the ship leaving thousands of passengers back into the ship. The hip breaks into the two. And Jack

tells Rose to hold her breath till he asks her not to. They later find a log of wood floating on the

water but unfortunately it cannot support both of them. So Jack decides to hold the edge of the log

of wood and asks Rose to get on it. He remains in the water only.

Later after several hours, when the lifeboat comes back, Rose attempts to wake him up but he is

dead and the grip of his hands frozen to hers. She remembers her promise to Jack that she will

survive and go on. She pulls free and he sinks. She moves her log of wood and finds a whistle in

one of the dead body's mouth. Taking the whistle, she blows it and the people on the lifeboat are

alerted by her presence. After rescuing her, Cal comes looking for Rose but she hides from him.

Rose Dawson, the name she tells to one of the crew member when he asks her name. She takes the

Jack's surname.

Now the film flashes back to the present day and she tells the expedition crew, “Now you know

there was a man named Jack Dawson and he saved me, in every way a person can be saved.” She

later reveals that she is still having the necklace but she never let know anyone about it. She tosses

it back to the ocean after keeping it for years and years. On that night, she dies in her bed. And the
end of the film shows them kiss each other in the main dining hall and all the ghosts applauding

them kissing.

SETS:

In terms of sets, the film if vary different with respect to other films. The sets were designed so as to

make it look like the world of 1990s. Even the costume and dresses of the people in the film are the

same as that of people of 90s. The ship also plays a very important role. The dining hall for the first

class people in the film represents a unique set. Also the majority of the scenes are neither too dark

nor too light. It is a well blend of the lights used.

THE CHARACTERS:

All the characters in the film represents a class of their own. Maximum of them plays a upper

middle class people except the few ones.

MALE CHARACTERS:

Jack Dawson:

Jack looking at Rose

He is a main protagonist in the film. He is shown as a poor and homeless man who travels different

parts of the world especially Paris. He gets onto the Titanic by winning two tickets from poker

game. He is attracted towards the Rose on the very first time he sees her. He falls in love with her

and tries every possible way to save her. He likes making sketches and he is viewed as a character

who sacrifices himself for his love.

Cal Hockley:

Cal eating breakfast with

Rose

He is shown as a handsome, self confident, hard guy and belongs to a well rich family. At the same

time he is extremely arrogant and snobbish. He is the fiancé of Rose and he is too possessive for

her. His way of loving her is too different and he wants to keep hold on her fiancé. He becomes

jealous, envious and hateful of Jack because of his relationship with Rose.

Captain Edward J. Smith:

Captain Edward John

Smith.
A charming and well known officer among the people on the ship, he takes the reponsibilty of the

tragic accident. He locks himself and asks others to go away. He even refused to take the life jacket.

Spicer Lovejoy:

Spicer Lovejoy holding the

gun
He is Cal's right-hand man as well as his bodyguard and assistant. He takes care of Cal and his

family. He is shown as a faithful bodyguard. His job in the film is to keep Cal out of trouble.
Thomas Andrews:

Andrews in conversation with

Rose

He is a main architect of the ship and is portrayed as a very kind and pleasant man. He is depicted

as a man who during the sinking of the ship stands next to clock in the first class smoking room and

expresses grief and sorrow for not making a safe and strong ship.

Fabrizio De Rossi:

Fabrizio De Rossi

He is Jack's best friend and accompanied him after Jack won 2 tickets and they both considered

themselves as the luckiest men in the world. He dies at the end when ship's funnel break and crashes

over him.

Brock Lovert:

Brock Lovert
He is the guy who acts as a treasurer and he is in a search of the rare diamond.
FEMALE CHARACTERS:

Rose DeWitt Bukater:

Rose wandering the ship

The female protagonist is being shown as a beautiful, extrovert, intelligent and poised lady. She is

engaged to Cal at the age of 17. She is frustrated from her first class life, so think of committing

suicide. She is well educated and passionate and also a brave lady. She meets Jack and trust him at

every stage. She is very optimistic and sure about her decisions. In the end, she is being shown as a

non greedy lady.

Ruth DeWitt Bukater:

Ruth talking to Rose

She is Rose's widowed mother who is of the opinion that Rose's marriage to Cal will help her in

paying the huge debts. She believes in social position rather than love marriage. At the same time

she hates Jack in spite of saving the life of her daughter.

Mrs. Margaret "Molly" Brown:

Molly Brown during the

first class dinner
She belongs to a first class family and is very kind and generous lady. She is very helpful and helps

Jack by getting him the dress bought for his son for the dinner party. But at the same time she is

looked down upon by the other ladies from the same class.

Rose DeWitt Bukater (An Old Lady):

An elderly Rose begins to

tell the story of the RMS
Titanic.

She acts an old Rose and she recalls the story about her experiences on the Titanic to the treasure

man. First of all She mentions Jack in her speech. And that shows her love for Jack. She is the one

who carries the story forward.

MELODRAMA:

Titanic in itself is a classic example of Melodrama. It can be regarded as a melodramatic love story.

In this film, one can easily recognize who is a villain and also the relation between Jack and Rose is

of little complicated and less ambiguity is present between them. The villain acting as an evil in the

film is Cal Hockley. He continues to be prick even after lost the girl.

Winning the tickets and boarding the ship within 5 minutes shows the melodrama.

The moment when Jack And Rose share their first kiss.

When Jack and Rose meet again on the ship deck and share their first kiss, Jack asks Rose to close

her eyes and come up. Then tells her to open the arms and open her eyes. Rose's respond to it by

saying, “Jack, I am flying. I am flying.” This again is a part of melodrama.

Sinking of the Great Titanic

The sinking of ship is also a kind of melodrama. Right from showing the making of ship till its

destruction is accounted as a melodrama. Terrible accident and dying of larger number of people.
All these events are not tragic, they are much closer to being melodramatic. Collision of the ship

with an iceberg in itself is a disaster. Here an iceberg is acting as a villain. This shows the

melodrama part. The innocent people are killed. This is clearly melodramatic.

The musicians who continue to play the instruments even at the timre of sinking.

At the time of sinking when everyone are looking for their spaces to resist the disaster, there are few

musicians who continue to play the musical instruments in the middle of the ship. This part is

clearly a melodramatic one.

Policeman shooting himself after firing on the citizens.

The policeman shoot himself after he fires on two third class passengers because they try to cross

the border line in order to board the lifeboats. So he shoot himself for all the wrong doings he does

that time.
In the end scene where Jack again confesses his love for Rose and said, “Never let go.” In response

Rose said, “I will never let go, Jack. I'll never let go.” This part again is an example of pure

melodrama. Apart from this the very last scene where they kiss each other and the ghosts

applauding them is clearly a melodramatic shot.

Jack and Rose kissing each other towards the end.

SOUND TRACK:

This is composed by James Horner. There is a soft music going on in between the film and the term

“evocative” is given by Earle Hitchner of The Wall Street Journal. Another music track “My Heart

Will Go On” is sang by Celine Dion and is put the end of the credits of the film. Because the

director, James Cameron didn't want any song to be played in between the film.
LOVE MAKING SCENES:

Two types of love can be seen in this film, Parental Love between Rose and her mother, Ruth and

Buddy Love between Rose and Jack. These love moves towards certain points of representation and

meaning. True love is present between the main protagonists of the film. Jack tries every possible

way to save Rose.

Rose and Jack sharing their first exotic kiss.

The kiss plays a very important role in binding the love. The first kiss that happens on the ship deck

is a promise between the two to stay together forever.

Also the sex in the auto mobile between Jack and Rose is nothing but the way of showing the love.

After having the sex Jack trembles and Rose asks for its reason. In reply, Jack replies by saying that

don;t worry, I'll be all right. This shows the depth of love of Jack for Rose who doesn't want her to

go away from him.

 Intimate scenes between Jack and Rose.

In the love scene, Rose tells Jack to "Put your hands on me." She then gently takes one of them and

begins to kiss and caress his fingers with her wet lips. Then we see the hand of Rose in passion as it

slams against the fogged up window of the Renault during the sex scene. Hands throughout,

touching, holding, and letting go. These aspects of the film help establish its mythic and human

quality in relation to time.

CRITICAL OVERVIEW:

One of the most expensive film in history, Titanic is a romantic tragedy love story. The film shows

the sinking of the ship as well as the love between Jack and Rose. That is the two stories goes hand

in hand. But the film is praised for its romanticism. Differences on the basis of class can also be

seen in the film. The 3rd class people are ill treated. They are not given the lifeboats unlike the first

class passengers. There are conflicts with respect to class, religion and heroism. There are scenes in

the film where men of all classes step aside so that women and children from all classes can get to

the life boats. There are also the scenes of people praying as the ship sinks.
CULTURAL CONTEXT:

The film can easily be resembled with an English classic, “The English Patient” that was released a

year before the release of Titanic. A Walk to remember can also be put in the same context. Also

Titanic can be regarded as a film that shows love without violence. In the same terms with respect

to Indian Context, few films that shows non violent love are Hum Apke Hai Koun, Dilwale

Dulhanya Le Jaayenge, Akele Hum Akele Tum, etc.

Various films based on the context of Non Violent Love

FACTS ABOUT THE FILM:

1. The film won 4 golden globe awards and was nominated for 20 BAFTA awards. The film

garnered 14 Academy Awards notifications and won 11 out of them. The soundtrack became the

best selling album of 1998 in the U.S.

2. The budget of the film was higher than the Titanic itself.

3. Rose Dawson Calvert, an old woman (Real Name: Gloria Stuart) got nominated for Best

Supporting Actress at an age of 87 and became the oldest person to ever be nominated for an Oscar.

4. Titanic was the first film to be released on video while it was still being shown in theatres.

5. James Cameron drew all the pictures in Jack’s sketchbook. The hands seen sketching Rose were

not Jack’s but Cameron’s.

CONCLUSION:

Titanic, a classical melodramatic romantic film is a perfect example of true love. Though the title of

the film clearly suggests that it is a film about ship which is known as Ship of Dreams but the

romantic side of the film can't be ignored. There are two stories going on side by side. But for the

maximum number of audiences, it is a film filled with romanticism. The love story is told in a very

unique way. It is well juxtaposed with the historical evidences of Titanic ship. The most astounding

thing about the film is the way the director has shown the “love story.” Imparting a positive, life-

affirming attitude on the whole concept of romantic love itself, which is something sorely lacking in

so many "modern" movies. It is the type of film which will remain close to people's heart for the

years to come.