barryrd

Titanic is a movie that I watched back in the 1990's and recently viewed again. It was a great movie then and it still is, with a love story that is hard to resist. It also shows the rigid class structure of the early 1900's on board the doomed ship. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jack Dawson who occupies the lower deck with the working class who seek a new life in America. He falls in love with Rose (Kate Winslett), a kindred spirit who flees from her mother and first class passengers to enjoy some real fun. Her scene with Jack amid the revelry and fiddle music was a joy to watch.

The drama takes hold when the Titanic meets its ultimate fate as it turns to avoid an iceberg which tears a long gash on the side of its hull. There are some visually stunning scenes as passengers experience mass hysteria to board a limited number of lifeboats. This movie, set against one of the most tragic events in the early 20th century, is as much a nail-biting disaster movie as love story. Gloria Stewart gives a fine performance as the elderly Rose recalling her love affair on board the legendary ship.

To say this movie is a nail-biter is putting it mildly. It is extremely well constructed with the gut-wrenching agony of a group of military technicians handling long-range equipment that enables them to zoom in on the target, the people in the streets, and the hideout of the terrorists. They are doing their utmost to avoid any civilian casualties in a location occupied by dangerous terrorists. Several times their superiors agree to wait and time is running out on an opportune moment to hit the terrorists. The problem is the presence of a child selling her mother's homemade bread. Permission to detonate comes from the highest levels of the military and finally from the British prime minister. Unlike their overlords, they are the ones who, in the final analysis, must carry out the command and live with the consequences. This movie is agonizing for the viewing audience. Helen Mirren and Allen Rickman deliver top notch performances.

Burt Lancaster delivers a powerful but sad portrait of a man living his life through an imagination of what he once was. Life has taken an unwanted turn and he cannot admit that he has become a hollow image of his former self. His journey consists of taking a swim in the backyard pools of neighbours in a well heeled suburban setting. When the movie was made in the 1960's, pools were token of luxury and success. So he seems to be taking part in a mirage of material bliss. Burt Lancaster also directed this brilliant film in a decade when many people were taking a serious look at the hallmarks of success in American life.