Titanic

The hardest and biggest a movie has movie’d.  What a monumental, engrossing spectacle this is… monumental in scope and size, engrossing in its focus on the interpersonal and intrapersonal. I have greater appreciation for Frances Fisher in this rewatch. The character is largely one-dimensional, but the camera elevates Fisher’s non-verbal acting to an extremely effective depiction of a woman so insecure, she goes lengths to put someone in their assumed place. I really liked Jack’s dinner with the aristocrats… Fisher shone best here with her subtle, but not hamfisted, remarks on Jack’s way of life. The tight shot composition on Fisher’s deathly stare magnifies this disdain. What I also like about Fisher’s Ruth is her scene with Rose in the bedroom, which brings to light a valid fear that humanizes her & explains her actions. This shows the remarkable ability of James Cameron to focus on the humanity without detracting from the spectacle, and vice-versa. As someone who loves art about the dynamics between different social classes, I really could have watched an extra hour or two of this film’s first half. The condescension on Kathy Bates’ Molly is also still funny in 2026, since a century has passed and that snobbery on the nouveau riche is still very much existent. You would think certain things disappear with the passage of time, but snobbery rooted in superiority complex remains a part of the human experience.  What I also really, really loved in this rewatch was how steadfast Rose was. Sure, I’ve always admired the character, but Kate Winslet and her Rose shone brighter for me in today’s rewatch! She’s always being infantilized (as expected since it’s 1912, years before women even got the right to vote), but she remains unfazed. She doubles down, even. I really like that she always spoke whatever was in her mind even though the men and her mother Ruth kept trying to shut her up. When she also tells Cal that she’d rather be Jack’s whore than be Cal’s wife? My god, revolutionary! Her character was so unbelievably refreshing. And as someone who keeps thinking about his existence, the focus given on Rose’s feelings and fears were validating and reassuring in the sense that I was not alone in what I felt and feared. People who were alive as early as 1912 already felt and feared what I felt and feared, and if they came out fine, I can too!  That sequence of the passengers all being stuck in the Titanic (the lifeboats had all been launched), scrambling for god knows where, made me emotional tbh… regardless of social class, they were just people who dreamed of a better future :( I am also affected by that small scene of a mother reading a bedtime story to her children (especially because you see them waiting for the gates to open). Yet aside from the humanity of it all, the filmmaking is an astounding marvel. The crowds alone are stunning. By the way, I did not mind the dialogue in this rewatch. It fits the universal quality of this movie; the simplicity overcomes language barriers. And for a monumental spectacle, it’s imperative that the spectacle itself is prioritized. James Cameron already did well anyway on showcasing the interactions of differing social classes! Also, I love whatever lipstick Kate Winslet had. It’s a perfect shade that I think I’d rock… but my mom just got me the lipstick Mikey Madison wore to the Oscars, and it’s a good MLBB shade on me!