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Mr. Cameron's 1997 "Titanic" can't be topped for epic sweep and romance. Yet "Titanic" takes convenient leave of some key facts and truly astonishing ironies in service of its narrative drive. While "A Night to Remember" also takes a few liberties in service of screen-story conventions, it mostly adheres to the facts of the disaster (as they were known in 1957.) But the key to appreciating both films is that are steering for different ports. "Titanic" is a melodrama, "ANTR" is a docudrama. Both films succeed wildly on their courses and both belong in any collection of Titanic enthusiasts and film fans.
Spoiler note: If you don't know about the S.S. Californian stop now! The other facts of the disaster have been covered in dozens of books TV documentaries so I'll assume you know them.
Eric Ambler's excellent ANTR screenplay consolidates the facts leading to the tragedy and doles out information in a fashion that heightens suspense, even though the audience is well-aware of the ultimate outcome. We are invested in a number of personal stories without dwelling too much on any given thread. There's one key exception: the use of Second Officer Lightoller as the nominal protagonist. This choice has been criticized, though it's clear the man rendered heroic service on that awful night. I feel having one identified protagonist (well-played by Kenneth More, a major British star of the era) is a forgivable concession to narrative convention.
One massive liberty taken in ANTR is seen as egregious by some Titanic historians and it actually opens the film! We witness a formal christening of the ship: that never happened. As one Harland & Wolfe employee told Walter Lord, author of the book on which the film is based, "They just builds her and shoves her in." Many see the lack of a christening ceremony as an ominous portent of the ship's fate, but in fact it's fully consistent with the custom of the day. Many H&W ships were not christened and most of them served a full useful term at sea before being retired, scrapped or recommissioned for war use.
On balance, the facts in ANTR are as accurate as the information available to the writers at the time the epic was filmed. Remember the Titanic wreck was not discovered until 1985. In 1912 the survivor's accounts of the ship's final minutes conflicted. Some swore she broke in two; others claimed she sank intact. Of course we now know the grim truth though "A Night To Remember" follows the majority opinion of the 1912 investigations (which concluded Titanic sank by the head, intact.)
The use of black & white photography and large scale miniatures to re-create the ship and the sinking actually work in favor of "ANTR". Both lend the film a period "newsreel realism" entirely appropriate to 1912. Limitations endemic to large-scale model photography may seem crude, even risible to audiences used to 21st century digital effects: the scale of water is completely out of proportion to the ship, there are no people scurrying around on-deck, etc. Yet everything feels "of a piece" and fully in-balance with the post-Victorian complacency ripped apart by the tragedy.
Spoiler alert: One hugely important thread the Cameron film omits it covered in detail in ANTR. There is compelling, some say overwhelming evidence that another ship, the S.S. Californian, was within 10 miles of Titanic as she went down. Titanic fired rockets and flashed Aldis lamp distress codes during her final 90 minutes which the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord, mostly ignored. Though this reads as unforgivable criminal negligence, there are mitigating factors which, once grasped help us comprehend his lack of action (but not forgive it.) These are detailed in many books on the disaster and too complex for this review, though I urge interested parties to spend some Google time researching this fascinating subject. Captain Lord has both his defenders and detractors to this day. I understand why Mr. Cameron chose to omit this part of the story. It seems so patently incredible and would have required at least 10 to 15 minutes of screen time to play out in proper detail. It would also detract from the helplessness of Jack, Rose and the other characters and lend false hope where none was forthcoming.
The omission of the Californian story underscores my view of the primary difference between two excellent films: James Cameron's "Titanic" is a melodrama. Melodrama is a perfectly legitimate form of entertainment, though modern audiences relate the term to top-hatted, mustached villains tying damsels to the railroad tracks. In fact it is the dramatic structure in which the lead characters are driven by, and react to the external forces by which they are challenged. "A Night to Remember" is a docudrama. True, the characters also react to external forces, rather than their own strengths and flaws, but here the overall thrust is to educate the viewer on why Titanic foundered and how those on board responded.
Again both films succeed on their own terms.
As far as the Blu-ray DVD - Criterion has done it again! The new supplements not available on the old SD copy from the late 1990's are welcome editions. The 1962 Swedish TV documentary honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking is fascinating, if somewhat overwrought at times. The reading of an epic poem and singing of a folk song come off as unintentionally sanctimonious, though I expect much has been lost in translation. But one cannot look upon the old woman survivor of third class/steerage as she relates her experiences, see the pain and tears in her eyes a half century on, and not feel a true sense of the horror 2200 souls experienced that night.
The events of that night still define and fuel our dreams and our nightmares. Our ambitions, driven by the same hubris that led to the loss of RMS Titanic, still often outpace the better angels of our nature and our good judgement.
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Customer reviews
The Story of Titanic, a disaster that still puzzles the world today. This is a great Criterion collection in Black & White, I fell in Love with the history of the Titanic when I saw the the Movie in 1997 with Kate Winslet and Lenoardo Dicaprio. After that I watch everything that I can about the history of the Titanic. This Movie also comes with a very nice booklet, showing many nice photo. You will not be unhappy with this purchase.
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Top reviews from other countries
DAVE BURTON
Forget Cameron.This is the real thing.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 8, 2013
sheldon ridley
Broken case!!
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 17, 2019
Broken case!!
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 17, 2019
Read the book in High School and saw this movie years ago on TV..and wanted it in my library 4 historical and sentimental reasons. Unfortunately, the case was all busted up when I opened the packet that it arrived in!! The imprint of the disc was worn right through on the back side of the case...indicating that it had been crushed at some point. 😠
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 17, 2019
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