The ocean on film!

 Heart of the ocean

Genre: Disaster, Romance, Tragedy

Le Cœur de la Mer, meaning "The Heart of the Ocean," is a fictional jewel created for Titanic, the 1997 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. In this film, the true heart of the ocean is Rose, whose story gives the movie its emotional center. The movie focuses on the very real ship, but with a fictional historical-romance twist. It is still talked about nearly three decades later, with sets authentically built and the rush of very real, very cold water helping create a classic film. 

Titanic is a cult classic that features the story of a real ship and its real demise with a fictional dramatic story wrapped around it like a bow, or like the ocean surrounding the vessel itself. The real Titanic began being built in March of 1909 and finished in March of 1912, with a promise of it being indestructible and unsinkable. The ship was beautifully built, filled with 840 rooms in all, its own gym, and its own dining rooms.

Here are some interesting facts about the ship: The ship could carry up to "2,453 passengers (833 First Class, 614 Second Class, and 1,006 Third Class). With a crew of approximately 900, the ship’s absolute maximum total capacity was around 3,300 to 3,547 people," as stated by the Titanic Wikipedia. The total number of people is 2 times the number of lifeboats they brought on their first and last voyages. 31% of the crew and passengers survived its sinking. Only 2 of the 12 dogs survived the sinking. The Titanic lies 12,600 feet, or 3.84 kilometers, below sea level, where it has lain for 114 years. Although the Titanic was built to last and was a revolutionary ship, its "unsinkable" reputation was proven wrong. The ship’s demise and the grief of its people are conveyed through the actors' emotions and the movie's writing.  

Reverting to the fiction, the movie features Kate Winslet as Rose Bukater, a socialite born in Philadelphia. Boarding from Southampton, England, at seventeen, she was returning to America with her mother and aristocratic fiancé Caledon Hockley. Returning to PA so she and Cal could get married. She was majorly unimpressed with the ship initially, mentioning another ship being bigger, meaning she was rich enough to board these bigger ships often. Rose's relationship with Cal was strained; he often scoffed at her interests in art and controlled her actions. But she ultimately is being forced to stay with Cal, as her father lost most of their fortune and Cal's would balance the family out and fix the family's debt. Exhausted from the woes of her family, her strained relationships, and how she's treated, she attempts to commit suicide aboard the ship.  But she was discouraged when a third-class passenger intervened in her plan. An artist named Jack Dawson stopped her in her tracks.  

 The second lead of the movie is Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who stayed in the third-class section with no known family on board. Born in Chippewa, Wisconsin, Jack's parents died in a fire when he was 15 years old, which made him into a traveler. Jack was only able to board the ship after winning the tickets from a great bet in poker, being penniless when he boarded. Not much is known about Jack other than the information provided, but his and Rose's story truly starts the moment he saves her from taking her own life. 

Rose acts as the metaphorical "Heart of the Sea" rather than the jewel she receives aboard the ship. Rose bridges the gap between her emotions and the Jewel's meaning itself, with her saying, " A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets."  She ties her own heart to the ocean and its depths while also connecting her to the jewel given to her by Cal, her ex-husband-to-be. 

Ultimately, Titanic is a great movie filled with the many realities of the ship and the fictional depth of characters and their woes. This movie paved the way for many tragedy movies in the future and is still one of the top films to this day.

~Bye from Nai!