Posted by Tom Kilbane on January 17, 1998 at 21:28:19:
In Reply to: Re: Opinions on Titanic? posted by Marcia on January 16, 1998 at 07:42:18:
Thank you Marcia and Carin for giving me some responses although with two completely different opinions. I guess no one else has seen the movie or those who did do not think this board is a proper place to talk about this great movie.
Marcia, I really enjoyed your post and feel exactly the same as you do about this movie. Although it didn't put my heart in my throat the way LOTM did the first time I saw it; I still left Titanic very moved and reflective on the sadness of the tragedy and on the wonderful piece of filmmaking I had just witnessed. I knew many others felt the same way: the audience applauded at the end of the film. Only once in the nine (yes, nine) times I saw LOTM in the theater did anyone applaud at the end of that great film. The one time was an elderly lady who clapped all by herself after Chingachgook had dispatched Magua. Titanic also produced another sight I had never seen in leaving a movie theater; two women, walking ahead of me, were almost in tears as they talked about the film. I want to assure all of you that Marcia is not exaggerrating the effect of this film.
Although I did not tear up myself the first time I saw the movie; the second time around caused some stronger emotions. The sight of that great ship, brought back to life by modern movie technology, as it pushes across the sea at 21 knots carrying within it the dreams of young men and the hopes of immigrant families for a better world than the one they had left behind. The exhilration of "Jack" as he stands at the prow watching dolphins race in front of the ship, Captain Smith's face radiant with pride in his new vessel, and joy of the immigrant party in steerage. Then the sadness of that "night to remember." A father trying reassure his crying daughters that the lifeboat is just for "the mummies and the children" and he will be along soon in another boat; although you can tell by his face and that of his wife's that they both know that there are no boats for "the daddies." An elderly couple holding each other on their bed as water seeps into their cabin. An Irish boy, no older than six, being reassured by his mother that they will soon be allowed on deck to go the lifeboats. Later you see the boy with his sister being tucked into their beds by their mother who is well aware that she and her children are trapped in a doomed ship. She is calming them with the Irish story of the fabled land of eternal youth and beauty. This boy brings to mind my grandfather who was a boy of five when his family made the trans-Atlantic journey from Ireland just the year before the Titanic tragedy. That scene combined with that knowledge of my family history did succeed to well my eyes up. I am sorry to go on and on like this but I really loved this movie. I can't recommend it more highly to anyone who is curious about seeing it.