ky02121

Crystal Clear

Interesting round table discussion for Kate, where she admits she feels like getting the role in Titanic was a "fluke" and that her big break was in 'Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind' where people truly started to take her acting seriously -

LindaL100

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LindaL100

it's understandable, Kate was only what around 18 when she filmed Titanic? She was still very young and quite inexperienced at the time, so it's understandable if she felt nervous about the huge success and all the attention the film was getting, she wasn't quite prepared for it, and she felt she still had a lot of room to improve her acting skills. I think her acting was already very good at the time, she was great in 'Sense & Sensibility' too that came out 2 years before Titanic. One of the great things about Kate that I love is her modesty, she's not cocky unlike so many other celebrities, also unlike other celebs, Kate doesn't brag about her success or talents, in fact, sometimes she would mockingly criticise her own acting in interviews. Even though she is such a great actress, even back then during her S&S and Titanic years, but she always downplays her own talents. Kate is also quite modest with the types of roles she plays, she always chooses roles that interests her and she feels would challenge her and help her improve and grow as an actor, no matter how big or small the production is, she doesn't care about fame or the budget or how much she gets paid or how much attention the movie would give her, she just wants to play interesting roles, she has been in many big budget movies but also smaller independent films too. Celebs like Kate are quite rare nowadays, most other actors and celebs are so cocky and always brag about themselves and achievements and they just want the big roles that would give them big paychecks and attention, many celebs do what they do for the money, Kate doesn't.

Crystal Clear

I really liked her in that and I got the sense that Emma Thompson really acted big sisterly towards her on/off set.

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Real-life: The man who predicted the tragedy of Titanic -

Jen's Herald

i still have to do a re-watch for my covid goals to-do list *sighs*

Crystal Clear

I haven't watched the film in a long time, but I have watched documentaries about the Irish third class passengers from Addergoole, many of whom died.

LindaL100

I just found this beautiful Jack & Rose fanvideo



Jack & Rose are truly the most iconic yet tragic on-screen couple ever, watching their beautiful yet heartbreaking scenes always makes me emotional and I will never get tired of "my heart will go on", this song is really their song

Jen's Herald

thanks for the video!

Crystal Clear

I thought Ewan Stewart was so good as William Murdoch. His performance doesn't get enough credit.

His look of horror when he accidentally kills 2 people + his fury towards Cal - "your money can't save you any more than it can save me"

LindaL100

^ I agree about Murdoch, he was a good person, however his family and the residents of his hometown thought that the depiction of Murdoch in the film was somewhat negative because he killed 2 people in the movie, even though it was accidental, but in reality that never happened he didn't kill anyone. Understandably his family were upset and demanded on apology from James Cameron and FOX, while FOX never gave an official apology, Cameron did admit in 2004 that he did not intend to portray Murdoch negatively in the movie and it was probably a mistake to portray a specific person, although that wasn't considered a formal apology either.
I personally don't think Murdoch was necessarily portrayed negatively, yes he killed 2 people but it was an accident, it was obvious that he was shocked by his own actions and felt so guilty that he killed himself, I actually felt sorry for him and sympathised with him in the movie, I really liked Murdoch. But the fact that this never happened in real-life and Murdoch never actually killed anyone that night, it's totally understandable that his friends and family were angry at how he was depicted, I have no connection to Murdoch's family or friends and as a regular viewer even I'm disappointed with how he was depicted in the movie. But that is in no way the actor's fault, I think Ewan Stewart did a great job portraying him, the problem was how the role was written and that was Cameron's fault.

I still re-watch the film all the time because it's my favourite movie of all-time, and every time I watch it it makes me dislike Ruth and Cal even more, especially Ruth. I understand that times have changed, back in the early 1900s women were oppressed and really had no freedom or choices, their lives were often dictated by their parents and husbands, arranged marriages of convenience were common, forcing young women to marry men they don't love and are treated like just properties of men. BUT, just because something is part of a social norm, does not mean that it's right, even now in some cultures child brides are still common, in these specific cultures especially in many middle Eastern and African cultures, it's still common for young girls as young as 12-18 to be forced to marry men much older than them against their will, but just because it's common does that mean it's right? Of course not. I can understand Cal being a controlling, egotistical and pompous jerk because that's how most men were like back then, but I still hate his arrogant and insufferable personality. The one I'm most angry at his Ruth, because she was the one who forced Rose into this arranged marriage with Cal in the first place, Rose was only 17 when she got engaged to Cal and we don't even know how long they've "been together", Rose was probably even younger when she met Cal. Ruth forced her young innocent teenage daughter into marrying a controlling and pompous jerk much older than her she did not like and against her will, she had no choices or control in her own life, everything in her life was dictated by her mother & Cal, she had no freedom, she felt trapped and suffocated, Rose was so miserable with her life that she even contemplated suicide, if Jack had not found Rose when he did who knows what would've happened to her. Ruth was so selfish and materialistic and only cared about herself, she didn't care about Rose's feelings or wellbeing, forcing her daughter into marrying a man out of convenience only just so SHE could live comfortably, at the expense of her own daughter's wellbeing. Like I said, just because that was the social norm at the time, does not mean it was right. The way Rose and so many other young girls and women were treated back then was very wrong and disgusting, I don't blame Rose for rebelling against her mother & Cal, unlike Ruth and Cal, Jack truly cared about her and her wellbeing, he treated her like a human being, and not just a mere puppet to be controlled and manipulated by her mother & Cal, he made her realise her real self-worth and that she deserved better, and for the first time in her life Rose finally found someone she truly loved and felt happy and free and finally realised what it was like to have choices and freedom and happiness, Jack freed her from the cage she had been locked in, I doubt Rose would've survived in that miserable life if she had not met Jack, she had already reached her breaking point by the time she first met Jack. If I was in Rose's situation and met a man like Jack, I would've done the same thing she did, I would've rebelled to be with my true love and pursue a life of freedom and happiness. Money cannot buy happiness, Rose would rather be poor and live happily with Jack, than be rich and live a miserable life with Cal.
Some people cast doubt about Jack & Rose's lovestory due to them only knowing each other for a few days, but sometimes that's all it takes to find real love, my grandparents have been together for over 67 years, they always tell me that it was love at first sight and they knew they were meant to be together from the first time they met and they were right, 67 years later they are still so happy and in love. Jack sacrificed himself so Rose could live, and Rose lived because she promised Jack she would live on, Jack died for Rose, while Rose lived for Jack, and after all these years and many decades, they reunited in the afterlife if that's not true love, I don't know what is. This is why I love Jack & Rose's lovestory and why they have become such a famous and beloved and iconic couple to so many people, their epic lovestory is about unconditional love, acceptance, finding freedom & happiness and sacrifice.

Crystal Clear

Yeah I heard about that

To be honest, Cameron spent way too much time focusing on a fictional couple to give the true historical figures any real attention. Real-life people were overshadowed by this epic romance he was trying to convey, and it really shows with somebody like Murdoch who was portrayed as a killer just for the sake of shock value.

I think this is the problem with adapting a real life event to the big screen. You're inevitably going to offend people if you choose to include real people without giving much thought to the actual events they experienced.

Same thing with the Macy's department couple. I don't understand why he deleted the scene where Ida Strauss resolves to stay with her husband on the ship? It just shows once again that James feared audiences would get bored if he didn't constantly focus on Leo and Kate.

LindaL100

I think that is precisely why Cameron focused so much on the fictional couple, it's very difficult to portray real people and real events 100% accurately, and as you mentioned it's inevitable that some people especially the families and friends of these real historical figures may get offended by how their loved ones were depicted on-screen, such as the case with Murdoch as a good example. So I think Cameron made the right decision by focusing most of the story on the Jack & Rose lovestory, since they are fictional characters, it eliminates the risk of offending the families and friends of historical figures, and the lovestory served as the initial main draw to the story and is one of the main reasons the film became so popular, it wasn't just because of the historical significance of the story, many fans fell in love with the Jack & Rose lovestory too.
The first half of the film was predominately about the lovestory, before the main focus shifted to the actual sinking of the ship during the second half, I think Cameron wanted to highlight what actually happened during the sinking itself, rather than focusing on specific individual historical people who were on the ship. Overall I think Cameron wanted to tell the story of the sinking of the Titanic itself through the point of view of a fictional couple, and as a filmmaker I think he did a great job of doing that and it was the smarter way to do it. Because as I said, telling the story through fictional characters eliminates the risk of offending people with depictions of real historical people since there is always the chance portrayals of real historical figures can be inaccurate. I'm sure Murdoch was not the only real person whom Cameron had depicted inaccurately in the movie and whose family Cameron had offended.
However with that said, some of the real people on the titanic did have somewhat prominent roles in the film like Molly Brown who probably had the most attention and screen-time out of all the historical figures in the movie, Thomas Andrews, Captain Smith and J Bruce Ismay also had a good amount of screen-time in the movie. But like I said before, I think Cameron's main objective was to tell the story of the actual sinking itself through Jack & Rose, those were the 2 main focuses of the film, all the other characters, both fictional and real, were just supporting roles.

Crystal Clear

That's a valid point. I definitely enjoyed the depictions of all the people you just mentioned.

I was particularly impressed with Victor Garber's Irish accent. I had him seen him in Sleepless in Seattle and believed he was an Irishman playing an American. I thought he was legit Irish for years, until I saw Alias and heard him in behind the scenes clips. Brilliant actor.

Kathy Bates was incredible as Molly. That scene where she tries to urge the other women to save their husbands by taking back the lifeboat to rescue people and the look of horror as she realizes nobody will support her... First class acting.

LindaL100

I love this old Oprah interview with Leo where he said Kate was his favourite on-screen kiss ever and then saying "that's my girl" about Kate It's amazing how close Kate & Leo became from the start and now even 23 years later they are still very close friends Cameron really struck gold when he casted them in the lead roles, not only did the film become 1 of the top grossing films of all-time, but Jack & Rose became arguably the most iconic on-screen couple ever and the film created an incredible friendship between Leo & Kate that is so special and unique and beautiful, I will never be able to get over their beautiful forever-lasting friendship!