TITANIC
The devil
and the deep blue sea
As its budget soared to $200 million, the rumour mill reckoned Titanic would sink a studio or two and leave the career of director JAMES CAMERON all at sea. The end result, however, is as spectacularly breathtaking as the ship itself.
‘t'rerus Alan Morrison
VAN (}()(ill l.()l’PlfiD off an ear. Michelangelo spent four painfttl years ruining his back as he painted the Sistine Chapel. The line between artistic perfection and dangerous obsession can be very fine indeed.
In Hollywood. there's a lot at stake financially when a domineering director decides every detail counts. and damn the cost. Stanley Kubrick might be currently causing much hair-tearing by holding onto
'l’otn (‘ruise and Nicole Kidman fora fttll year
on the set of [Eyes Hit/e .S'lml. but it was James Cameron who most recently had studio executives reaching for the valium as the budget of 'li'rum'c crept steadily towards the $200 million tnark and stories of arguments
between cast and crew were heard in l.os Angeles.
After the lit—tech action thrills of Aliens. fi’l'lnflltllt’tl' 2 and True Lies. Cameron is the last person you‘d expect to find making a romantic drama set in the past. And yet his faith in the story of the doomed ocean liner ~ which hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in l‘HZ with the loss of over 150“ lives 7- has paid off. The film equalled its cost within four weeks of release at the American box office. while critics fell over themselves to praise its emotional impact. technical \vi/ardry and performances by Leonardo Dit‘aprio and Kate Winslet. Cameron is also surely in line for an Oscar nomination in recognition of his change of cottrse from ttc‘litm fare.
‘I felt that if we could make a film which captured the human emotions —- and there is no more powerful emotion than love — then it could be gripping.' the 43-year~old director csplains. ‘Hut it had to be big scale and it was always going to be expensive. I had to stick to my goal to make this an epic subject. dealt vv ith in an epic way.‘
A key lat tor iii the film‘s spiralling cost \\ as the trips (‘ameron and his crew made to the site of the wreck itselfon the bottom of the Atlantic. 'l‘hese haunting shots of ruined splendour giv e the finished film an eerie authenticity. and the experience has clearly left its imprint on the director.
'I felt that I could not make the film or
Leonardo DiCaprio
Date of birth: i '. Screen debut: L l x .i'
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