Classicism in The Titanic - Movie Review Example

On its first voyage however, it crushed into the ice of the Atlantic Ocean, causing it to sink. The film however evolved around the story of Jack (DiCaprio), a commoner and Rose (Winslet) a woman engaged to be married to a wealthy and powerful Duke. The film was heavy on the meeting and the love story that transpired between Jack and Rose but it also showed the class struggle between the rich and the poor and how power can be one-sided. The film ended with only one of the two surviving, thus ending a beautiful love story.

The Titanic however, will forever be remembered. Classicism is an "aesthetic attitudes and principles based on culture, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome, and characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restrained emotion" (Baigent, 2003). Classicism can be seen as specific philosophical genre expressed in literature, architecture, art and music which has ancient Greek and Roman sources (Wikimedia Foundations, Inc, 2009). "Classical art encompasses antiquity and later works inspired by it, the latter normally referred to as Neoclassical.

Adherence to traditional aesthetic formalities was favored over expressionism and individuality. Classic art is distinguished by clarity, order, balance, unity, symmetry and dignity" (World Wide Arts Resources, 2009). Classicism is made up of many concepts: proportion, symmetry, humanism, realism, idealism and Aristotle's theory of the "unities," among others. In this paper, we take a particular look at the concepts of symmetry, humanism and realism in our analysis of the movie Titanic. A Proportion in the Depiction of Characters"Proportion is the relationship of one part of a whole to other parts.

In art it has usually meant a preoccupation of artists with finding a mathematical formula for the perfect human body" (Mimi.hu). My own understanding of proportion is the attempt to create a balance in an art so that it is necessary that the correct weight of each part is employed. In the whole of the film, The Titanic, proportion was observed when two classes were featured- the elite and the poor. There was a considerable portion allotted to describe these two classes where the leading characters came from.

There was a description of the life of the commoner Jack as he was featured gambling just before the ship left so as to have something for fare. On the other hand, the elite were given especial seats in the ship plus especial treatment during the rescue. There was a proper proportion between the two male characters. Most of Jack was shown un the movie as he was the leading man, but the character of the Duke was also revealed such as heartless, dangerous but seemingly refined. The latter is in contrast with Jack's carelessness and roughness.

The Reality of Class Struggle and sinfulness Realism as expressed in visual arts and literature is a depiction of subjects as they live and appear in their ordinary lives, "without embellishment or interpretation", thus in revealing the reality, may actually be ugly or sordid (Wikimedia Foundations, Inc, 2009). "The achievement of realism in theatre was to direct attention to the physical and philosophic problems of ordinary existence, both socially and psychologically. In plays of this mode people emerge as victims of forces larger than themselves, as individuals