Titanic (BFI Modern Classics) [Paperback]

David M. Lubin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2008

This text looks at Titanic, the first film to earn over a billion dollars at the global box-office. This epic film reimagines one of the defining events of the 20th century through the lens of American romanticism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A perfect companion to the film, a true enrichment of the film experience." -- Filmhaftet

About the Author

David M. Lubin is Charlotte C. Weber Professor of Art at Wake Forest University. His books include Act of Portrayal: Eakins, Sargent, James (1985) and Picturing a Nation: Art and Social Change in 19th Century America (1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: British Film Institute (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851707602
• ISBN-13: 978-0851707600
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insights on a Great Movie, May 11, 2000

By 

Michael J. Mazarr (Arlington, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Titanic (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

You think you understood this simple (if expensive) movie? Think again. David Lubin demonstrates why Titanic can really be seen as an allegory--about race and class, humanity and technology, and much more--with amazing depth and sophistication. He's an academic but he writes like a journalist, and you'll be amazed at all the fascinating tidbits he comes up with. Plus the book is beautifully produced with dozens of photos from the film to illustrate (literally) the points he's making. Just a great read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lubin offers valuable insights, July 22, 2001

By 

Ernie Wyatt (Milledgeville, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Titanic (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

David M. Lubin's "Titanic" offers valuable and interesting insights into James Cameron's 1997 Academy Award-winning film by the same title. Lubin, a professor of art at Wake Forest University, brilliantly positions the film within its artistic, historic and cultural context, relating it to art (Frederic Church's "The Icebergs" and "Heart of the Andes," George Caleb Bingham, Jacques-Louis David, among others), literature (Crane, London, Twain, Whitman, et al.), music (Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld," Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde," etc.), theatre (the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, etc.), and even to still photography (Lewis Hines' "Young Russian Jewess at Ellis Island," Alfred Stieglitz's "The Steerage"). Lubin also connects "Titanic" to numerous other films, especially "It Happened One Night" and "A Night to Remember," and filmmakers, including Hitchcock, Welles, Ford and Kubrick. Lubin says "Titanic" is "not by any means an intellectual film," yet his book seems to belie this statement. How could a film that poses "questions about society's divide between rich and poor, the nature of love, the meaning of sacrifice, and modernity's faith in...technological prowess and mastery over nature" be anything but an intellectual film?

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than I thought it would be, June 1, 2005

By 

John S. Harris "The Voice of Reason" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Titanic (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

For a movie that was almost universally loathed by "high-brow" critics, "Titanic" gets a very lovingly detailed and in-depth analysis courtesy of Mr. Lubin. His analysis is interesting and well-researched without going too overboard or reaching too far for metaphors and artsy-fartsy obscure parallels, as some BFI contributing authors have.

This book afforded me a fascinating 12th look at a film I've already seen 11 times, and I feel enriched for having read it. It is scholarly without being boorishly so, and resists the chance to take gratuitous potshots at the flimsiest part of the film -- the dialogue. Lubin rightfully defends writer/director James Cameron's film even at its weakest points, probably because to single out the flimsy and shallow dialogue is to overlook the mastery that went into every other single detail of getting this epic film made. Visually, it is so rich in detail and craft that to malign it for "teen-speak" dialogue is just to be petty. But make no mistake --- Lubin is not playing the cheerleader for the sake of doing so. He is carefully examining the film for its comments on class distinctions, its parallels to art and opera, its classic story structure, and how the timing of the making and release of the film is nearly as significant as the timing of the actual sinking from the perspective of changing cultural and social mores. Or something like that -- Lubin phrases it so much better than I ever could.

To those who would chastise Cameron for the dialogue, let's see how well YOU do writing dialogue while simultaneously juggling the 40 thousand details, large and small, of a project this massive!

Lubin acknowledges the film's flaws but also pays due heed to the elements that work well, and the film is full of them.

Just read the damn book, folks.