James Cameron month: Titanic

A retrospective by Azzam Abdur-Rahman

Can we talk about how insane Titanic is?  As a movie it is absolutely insane. How does an action and Sci-Fi director make a sweeping romantic epic? How does it feel end up being a film that took over the ending zeitgeist of the 90’s. How does that same film sweep the Oscars and end up making an assload of money? How?! How?!

To be fair to this film I shit on it forever and it’s easy too! It’s a movie that doesn’t feel like a marvel or masterpiece on its face value but when you talk about what is in order what it took to pull that film off that fact that it was a success is wild. One of the world's greatest known tragedies as a grand epic for an hour and half then a disaster film for the second hour and a half? Apparently, we as a nation said sign me up! 

What is most fascinating about this film is its powerful release and how much it impacted the film world at large. This movie changed blockbusters, it’s changed the Oscars and it gave Cameron so much clout he got to make an insane movie staring a nobody about crazy space rocks but this film also made DiCaprio bigger, it took Kate Winslet to hire highest in her career and gave Celine Dion her last massive hit. 

Titanic is important, it’s insanity and it’s the kind of work a Maverick director at the height of their ego makes. We should be thankful for it.

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