Exploring Titanic and its exhibition

In celebrating the new and wonderful Titanic exhibition in London arriving this year, I thought I would look back at 97’s hit Titanic, with James Cameron steering the ship behind the camera into box office success with Dicaprio and Winslet making their blockbuster debuts. Here we go.

Story

With a story as mighty and tragic as Titanic, you have a blockbuster on the table. However, what made Titanic ever more successful was the romance. Out of the thousands on board, if you get the audience to be fully immersed in the lives of two people, you now have a central relationship to focus on when the drama is going down, its that direct focus that allows you right into the emotion.

Without the developmental relationship, the film may have lost the anchor for audiences and the film would have just been mindless chaos in screen, with still elements of tragedy.

For some the romance worked and others have questioned the dialogue at times between the two, more or less, the romance is a lot more convincing than it was in Michael Bay’s tame love triangle in Pearl Harbor, which I believe was the component that threw audiences off the project, despite some thrilling set pieces. The film came only a few years after the fun Armageddon, which also starred Ben Afleck.

Its worth mentioning that there had been a few films of the tragedy before Titanic. The film A Night to Remeber is one of the more famous depictions which achieved critical acclaim by Marc Kermode and others. In terms of documentaries, I recommend the documentary Ghosts of the Abyss (2003), which explores the wreck in more detail.

For 97’s Titanic, Its the love story that decides the fate of the ending which to this day lands itself amongst cinemas most riveting endings, the list will include Nolan’s Inception.

Over 20 years later, and the sign of the ultimate blockbuster movie, audiences and critics are still discussing why Leo didn’t survive. People still care about these characters or are at least invested. No ending in cinematic history will ever be as significant. Other than Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

What I took away was that James Cameron wanted Leo to die because it emphasizes how much these two were in love and the best way to show that theme is to have one of them die.

The romance gave the film a narrative focus and direction that stands out amidst the chaos amongst the thousands on board, that’s true filmmaking at its best.

James Cameron’s Investment

He has famously stated in interviews that he wanted to make Titanic so he could dive to the shipwreck and explore the history and real story as to why and how the ship sunk, exactly. That commitment, true dedication and passion to his work is gives the film a sense of authenticity. As a film director, this is one of the best goals to have when making a film that you have a true love for the source material and you engage with it physically and mentally.

I believe this came through on the screen very effectively. The opening of Titanic, see us explore the wreck of the ship just as you would do if you were to go in real life.

 It takes a lot of bravery and a level of technical understanding of the equipment, for everything to go safely. When they visit the Titanic, it’s very compelling.
Other components that go into making a memorable blockbuster is the reliance on CGI. CGI can look great but there is something very authentic to real practical effects. The attention to detail, when re-creating the ship is impeccable.

Titanic was concerned with really taking the audience on board the ship and you can’t do that with a fake ship. Once the ship hits the iceberg, the use of real sets come into play. A lot of the credit goes to the extras, they did a lot of running and screaming and were very convincing.

One element is for sure, I will be visiting the Titanic Exhibtion sometime next month and perhaps I will give Titanic a watch before hand to really prepare me for the experience.

Titanic Exhibition

The exhibition is available to book now on their website. The experience will include replica rooms, objects, audio recordings and more. For something that happened over a 100 years ago, it still holds a strong place in history as one of the worlds greatest tragedies.

I am going to be first in line when I get the chance. You can book tickets Here.

How about you?

Author Bio

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Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football



The Little Stranger manipulates the horror genre

Have you seen a good drama film that has elements of horror? The Little Stranger maybe that film. Take a read.

The Little Stranger is an excellent drama that keeps you hooked and guessing right to the end, with tightly knitted performances by Domhall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, and Will Poulter but the star is director Lenny Abrahamson who so brilliantly blends several genres together.

Plot: During the long, hot summer of 1948, Dr. Faraday travels to Hundreds Hall, home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. The Hall is now in decline, and its inhabitants — mother, son, and daughter — remain haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life. When Faraday takes on a new patient there, he has no idea how closely the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own.

Analysis: With an all British cast, there is much to admire about The Little Stranger. My favorite aspect of the film is easily is the theme of genre-blending and manipulation. Director Lenny Abrahamson has explained in great detail how he approached the drama and horror genre with a serious undertone to it, which in execution distorts clear genre traits that audiences have come to know.  

Comedy and romance are sprinkled throughout which helps keep audiences afloat when the drama and tragedy kicks off.

Recent horror releases include the Saw, Halloween, and Conjuring series which are all true horror series, with plenty of guts and core to penetrate any dramatic situation. The performances are very bold. Our lead is Domhall Gleeson who plays a very sturdy doctor with additional roles of Will Poulter and Ruth Wilson, who are all brilliant. 

Our first introduction to the horror elements of the film comes very unexpectedly as the film takes the time to set the scene and lets us take in the environment of the house. You can feel and hear every crack and footstep in the house.

After a while, the house begins to take the shape of a mysterious and menacing character of its own, however, unlike most horror films, the horror is manipulative as we don’t always know what the intentions are behind various hauntings that occur throughout the film, which makes the characters completely at the forefront of the horror drama. 

Several of the cast members have argued that the film is not a straight-up horror film and this is definitely true. The actual horror elements are always well balanced with character discussions, this is a more intelligent and thought-provoking version of a  slasher flick where you feel that every character has an importance to the story. 

The film is shot by Ole Bratt Birkeland who lensed such delights as Judy and the film has a very immersive quality to it which is important for a film like this. To get the record straight, the film is not trying to be a horror film, although the film is frightening at times because it blends gory images with character drama.

The filmmakers may not agree with me, but I’m hoping this form of filmmaking is the way forward for horror films in the future, rather than make a mindless gorefest, make the horror stand for something, give us a reason as to why we should feel invested in these characters, therefore the gore has an emotional impact that goes beyond mindless entertainment. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good horror mashup when I see one, I really enjoyed 2009’s Friday the 13th and I actually found it very frightening, but films like The Others, Signs, and The Little Stranger place the characters at the forefront of the drama.

The Little Stranger I’m hoping paves the way for how the drama/horror genre innovates in the next 10 years. If horror filmmakers approach the genre to how the film unfolds, we might see more thought-provoking material which could be something new. The film asks you to get engaged in the story.

Lenny Abrahamson is set to direct the upcoming tv series Conversation with Friends (2022) with Joe Alwyn centered on the relationship that an Ireland duo has with a married couple. Maybe, there will be no scares this time around.

It appears that grief is the shining light for making the scares matter.

Let me know your thoughts.

Author Bio

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is p7160341.jpg

Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football



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