Released in 1997, “Titanic” is an epic American film that was directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by movie giant James Cameron. Primarily a romantic affair, the film concentrates on the love story between Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (played by Kate Winslet). The film tells the story of two people who fall in love on the Titanic during is maiden voyage. Coming from entirely different social classes, the pair has to overcome a number of challenges, including conflict from Rose’s fiancé, Cal Hockley (played by Billy Zane).
Alongside the romance, the film depicts the real-life events of 14 April 1912, when, at 11:40pm, the Titanic sank resulting in 1,517 deaths. It’s perhaps this stark contrast between a beautiful love affair and a well-known tragedy that helped to ensure the eventual success of “Titanic” in cinemas across the world. Audiences watched in awe as the well-known story unfolded on the big screen – with stunning special effects cleverly used to depict the sinking of the giant liner. The film manages to combine a serious storyline with moments of humour – for example, the images of the band ‘playing on until the end’ may seem ridiculous now, but were well documented in first-hand recounts of the fateful night.
Cameron, who has since told of the fascination that he holds for the Titanic, felt that a love story would be the best way to accurately present his take on the events of the Titanic – by showing moments of devastation and human loss, along with scenes of hope and a storyline revolving around a group of people united with one mission – to survive. Certainly, the huge viewing figures would indicate that he got it right – the “Titanic” achieved a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion, making it the first film ever to reach the billion dollar mark. The “Titanic” held onto its title as the highest-grossing film of all time for a massive twelve years – until another of Cameron’s directorial efforts, Avatar overtook it in 2010.
“Titanic”, which is also ranked as the sixth best epic film of all time in AFI’s (American Film Institute) Top 10, certainly hit a note with many people – as movie-goers rushed out to buy their own copy of the film on DVD following its release. But the film itself took some time to make – production on “Titanic” began in 1995, when Cameron shot the initial footage of the actual Titanic wreck (as shown in the opening scenes of the film). Shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh – the scenes kick-started the development of the film. At this point a reconstruction of the Titanic was created at Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, and computer-generated images and scale models where also developed (to later be used in the ‘sinking’ scenes).
Of course, a film of such grandeur had a huge budget – an estimated budget of $200 million was needed in total to make the film – this was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. To this end, the “Titanic” became the most expensive film ever made. The massive budget was however justified by the subsequent earnings made in cinemas worldwide, DVD and merchandise sales and the many accolades awarded to it (including fourteen Academy Award nominations and eleven Oscar wins). In recent times, there are plans for a theatrical re-release of “Titanic” on April 6, 2012 in 3-D – to mark the centenary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage.