Titanic: Historical Accuracy - Movie Review Example

Titanic: Historical Accuracy As big as the film and its feat, the 1997 movie Titanic is a huge hit both in the history of the cinema and the historyof the real event it portrayed. The fame of the Titanic movie and the fame of the RMS Titanic in 1912 can almost visualize in the equal hype in each eras. However, some sophisticated viewer can only find the movie justified the real account if accuracy in its historical accounts were considered. Hence, the study is to discern the credibility of the movie from its historical claim that the title suggests. Steven Biel, in his work The Journal of American History (1998), had cited in its movie review section one of the remarkable criticism from the known critique, implying its significance and accuracy historically. He wrote: "In the wake of the Titanicmania, several critics took on these broader questions. Frank Rich observed in the New York Times that Titanic "was destined to be truer to 1997 than 1912, no matter how faithfully the director, James Cameron, reproduced every last brandy sniffer of the White Star Line." One of the primary accurate accounts that the movie faithfully acknowledged off from the RMS Titanic was the date setting that the movie took place of. In the movie it was noted that the first launching of the supposed extravagant ship was in April 14, 1912 - the exact date of the launch of the TMS Titanic recorded in history. The gigantic putrid ship under the ocean was shown when group of treasure hunters explored the location of the sunken ship. The 2000 feet deep sunken ship being shown throughout the movie was actually the real footage of the Titanic that James Cameron have taken in 1995, before the production began (Berardinelli 1997). From the start, the acknowledgement of the real Titanic was implied by Cameron for primarily depicting the real one rather than the production's improvised version of it. This is apparently a sign of respect for the accuracy of the image of the ship, and also a point of accuracy regarding its image. Social Setting. Titanic represents the transition of the social condition during the real RMS Titanic's period by splitting its body in two when it was then persistently sinking, upon the film's depiction. The period then was apparently dealing on a scheme of the boundaries between the upper-class and the lower-class, and the period did really exist in social history. The status was visible upon the characterization of the main leads of the movie through Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo Di Carpio, and Rose Dewitt Bukater played by Kate Winslet. Although struggling in status, Rose belongs to the upper-class, while Jack belongs to the lower-class, both aboard in the remarkable ship though in different decks, denoting their statuses. Another historically accurate in sociological ground of the movie is the stereotypical setting during the period that hindered intimate connections between the rich and the poor, such as the sort of "forbidden love" case between Jack and Rose. Marriage of the rich families somehow became a trend then to secure one another's social status or wealth in society. The fictional character Rose had been dealing was a factual social pressure during that era when she was being forced by her socially-threatened mother to be married to the character that Billy Zane being portrayed, Caledon Hockley, the rich fiance of Rose. Upon prior meeting with Jack, Rose was already reluctant to be wed with Caledon, but she was being strained by conditioning of her mother to marry him to keep their status in the Alta society - many similar cases had been cited in the history at the period (Chumo 1999). Characters. The two lead characters are well known to be fictitious, which Cameron honestly claimed as to be. However, some real significant characters recorded from the history were given to life in the film, and fairly built up with characterizations that were based on their immediate descriptions from history as well - of what they were famous of. They were depicted upon the fictional scenes of their involvement on the characters of Jack and Rose. Margaret Brown, best known as "the unsinkable Molly", existed both in the movie and the real 1912 voyage. She was played by Kathy Bates, and just as how she was portrayed - Molly belonged to an American socialite, and a philanthropist, as well as an activist (Titanic-Titanic.Com 2008). Bates depicted such characters in a fictional situation with Jack when she was the only one in the upper-class who cared enough for the poor young man to somehow be fitted in an anticipated party of his heroism with the upper-class. Another scene where the actress depicted such character known of Molly was the time she was encouraging her companions in the boat to go back and retrieve some other survivors from the sunken ship, while most of the women were grieving, weak, and shocked. Captain Edward John Smith is the RMS Titanic captain that was played by Bernard Hill. Thomas Andrews, Jr., played by Victor Garber is the ship's designer. Colonel John Jacob Astor, whom Rose coined as "the richest man on the ship", also happened to be true then, was played by Eric Braeden. First Officer William Murdoch was also portrayed in the movie, as well as the rest of significant upper-class characters aboard in the ship. Other Details. "Iceberg, right ahead!" was actually the echoing shout from the lookout Frederick Fleet the moment that the ship was minutes away to get collided with the unnoticed iceberg, both in the film and the account recorded by the testimonies of the survivors. The failure to connect with the ship's Marconi wireless radio about the iceberg that initially caused the damage was fairly executed in the movie as well (Think Quest 2008). Another accurate thing that the movie considered was the breakup of the ship itself. The prior years after the sinking of the ship, historians believed that the ship sunk as whole piece. However, they had only resorted to the claims from half of the testimonies of the survivors, while the other half claiming they have seen it split in two. Only then by 1985 that the ship was proven had split in two in its surface when Bob Ballard discovered it (Wormstedt 1998). Among other details, Richard Howells (1998) of the University of Leeds testified and added: "To those of us who have seen pretty well every plan, drawing, photograph and film clip of the Titanic in existence (actually, there are surprisingly few), Cameron's film is truly remarkable in its visual authenticity. Not just the structure but also the design, decor and detail of the entire ship has been assiduously researched and looks authentic down to the layout of the bridge and the carving on the first class staircase. With the additional help of computer animation, Cameron gives us views of the Titanic which were never recorded on film aboard the actual ship. Indeed, such is the degree of visual accuracy that many of the details will be lost on others than Titanic aficionados. A brief shot on deck of a boy spinning a top, for example, is in fact a reference to an actual photograph taken on board the real Titanic by Father F.M. Browne, S.J., and an enthusiastic amateur photographer, who disembarked at Queenstown. Cameron expertly animates the scene and incorporates it into the narrative." Conclusion. Much similar to the hypothetical claim of Biel in reviewing the movie that no matter how carefully crafted the details of the movie to give respect to the original account of the historical ship, many will still see the Titanic more of a cinematic phenomenon. As Biel wrote: "When a film costs and earn more than any other, when it becomes a major cultural phenomenon, we ought to be asking questions about Titanic's historical significance rather than its accuracy. How might we explain its resonance How might we contextualize it How might we compare it to previous representations of the disaster How, in short, might we really locate this movie in time" (Biel 1998) Although there were reports about the controversy the film had brought as historians pointed out several fictional events in the story, like the shooting of people of Captain Murdoch which was not proven, the movie is honest in its delivery of what is the part that is fiction and what is factual, without literally saying it in the process of the story. Just as Richard Howells (1998) stated: "It goes without saying, of course, that not all historically accurate films are good films, and that not all good films are historically accurate. What is so tantalizing about Titanic, though, is this schizophrenic convergence of accuracy and invention. Ultimately, though, it is invention which carries their day. In the final sequences, Cameron succeeds in moving his audience with an emotional conclusion. We weep, though, not for the horrid deaths of 1,500 real people, but for the fate of two fictitious characters and the bittersweet memory of lost love. That's Hollywood." Obviously, the 1997 movie Titanic was told in the view of the fictional love story of Jack and Rose. The actual historical accounts of the ship and its tragedy only served as the backdrop of the moving tale of love that Cameron has created. For balance analysis and references of critical claims, Bill Wormstedt (1998) had a different angle to view the movie as he discerned the fairness of the film in its historical accuracy. For closure is a quote from Wormstedt saying: "As a fictional love story set in a historical location, the history in James Cameron's new movie Titanic is fairly accurate. And the sets themselves are extremely accurate. Though there are a number of historical 'errors', in some cases they are the result of intentional changes needed for the story." Perhaps, the bottom-line of having this film in this generation, is to inform and aware many about the historical sinking of a once proud ship and the claimed the lives of more than 1,500 passengers during the early period of 20th century, just like the many movies made out of historical events and characters. Works Cited "Iceberg, right ahead!". The RMS Titanic. Think Quest. 2008. 25 Apr 2008 < http://library.thinkquest.org/21583/to/berg.htm> "Margaret Molly Brown". Margaret "Molly" Brown. Titanic-Titanic.Com. 2008. 27 Apr 2008 Berardinelli, James. Titanic 1997. Movies Reelviews.Net. 1997. 25 Apr 2008 < http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/titanic.html> Biel, Steven. The Journal of American History, Vol. 85. No. 3. 1998. Organization of American Historians Chumo, Peter N. Learning to make each day count: time in James Cameron's Titanic. Journal of Popular and Television. 1999. Heldref Publications. Michigan Howells, Richard. Films and History: Titanic. Humanities and Social Sciences Online. June 1998. 26 Apr 2008 < http://www.h-net.org/mmreviews/showrev.cgipath=76> Wormstedt, Bill. Historical Accuracy in James Cameron's Titanic. Mar 1998. 26 Apr 2008 < http://home.att.net/wormstedt/titanic/cameron.html> Read More