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Titanic’s keel was laid on March 22, 1909. For the next twenty-six months, Harland & Wolff’s shipyard workers labored nine hours a day, six days a week, to construct her massive hull (98/0001.A1). The White Star flagships would have both reciprocating steam engines, the norm for the period, and a turbine engine to power the center of three propellers. Moreover, a double-plated bottom and a sophisticated system of watertight compartments provided the utmost in security.
Titanic moored at Southhampton
The Titanic was conceived in 1907 and met with disaster in 1912, a brief existence but one fraught with all the drama of a Greek tragedy. It was the beginning of the twentieth century, a time of optimism and progress. The transatlantic transport of passengers, cargo, and mail was brisk and competitive. In the spirit of this competition, managing director of the White Star Line, J. Bruce Ismay, engaged the Belfast shipbuilding company of Harland & Wolff to build three leviathans that would become the largest moving objects created by man. The three Royal Mail Ships were to be called Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic. Gigantic was later re-named Britannic. The ships were to be virtually identical in size and structure, but Titanic was to be the true shining star.
On May 31, 1911, her superstructure completed, Titanic slipped gracefully into the River Lagan launched on twenty-two tons of tallow, train oil, and soap, and was towed to the fitting out basin. It was now time for the three thousand carpenters, engineers, electricians, plumbers, painters, master mechanics, and interior designers to fit the Titanic with the latest in marine technology and the most sumptuous fixtures and furniture. Finally, on April 2, 1912 she was ready. Certified seaworthy, Harland & Wolff handed her over to the White Star Line and the Royal Mail Triple-Screw Steamer Titanic departed for her place in history.
Tugs take Titanic out to sea
Technology had been delivering a steady stream of miracles for the better part of two decades and people were beginning to take this spiral of progress for granted. What better demonstration of humanity's mastery over nature than the launch of Titanic. She was the largest and most luxurious moving object ever built by the hand of man, billed as unsinkable. Four-and-a-half days later, the world had changed. The maiden voyage of the "ship of dreams" ended as a nightmare beyond fiction and the loss of hundreds of lives. Mankind's faith in its own indomitable power was severely shaken, the result of arrogance, complacency and greed.
TITANIC MOVIE BLOCKBUSTER
Not to discredit the three earlier Titanic films, James Cameron's "Titanic" is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, the pride and joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object ever built. She was the most luxurious liner of her era. They called her the "ship of dreams" which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. Cameron's film benefits from modern effects and modern diving equipment, which coupled with superb direction and great performances keeps you riveted from the start.
The journey of "Titanic" begins in the present, at the site of the ship's watery grave, two-and-a-half miles under the ocean surface. This twist works really well. An ambitious fortune hunter (Bill Paxton) is determined to plumb the treasures of this once-stately ship, only to bring to the surface a story left untold. The tragic ruins melt away to reveal the glittering palace that was Titanic as it prepares to launch on its maiden voyage from England. Amidst the thousands of well-wishers bidding a fond bon voyage, destiny has called two young souls, daring them to nurture a passion that would change their lives forever.
Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) is a 17-year-old, upper-class American suffocating under the rigid confines and expectations of Edwardian society who falls for a free-spirited young steerage passenger named Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio). Once he opens her eyes to the world that lies outside her gilded cage, Rose and Jack's forbidden love begins a powerful mystery that ultimately echoes across the years into the present. Nothing on earth is going to come between them -- not even something as unimaginable as the sinking of Titanic.
Also inhabiting this floating microcosm are Cal Hockley, played by Billy Zane, heir to a huge fortune and Rose's fiancé, and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, Rose's socially driven mother, played by Frances Fisher. Oscar® winner Kathy Bates is featured as the ship's most colorful real-life passenger, Molly Brown. Other historic figures include Captain E.J. Smith (Bernard Hill), White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde), and master shipbuilder and primary architect of Titanic, Thomas Andrews (Victor Garber). Also participating in this devastating hand of fate dealt to the passengers of Titanic are an Italian emigrant named Fabrizio De Rossi (Danny Nucci), Jack's poor but determined best friend; and Spicer Lovejoy (David Warner), Cal Hockley's ruthlessly loyal valet.
LA TRAMA Il transatlantico Titanic salpa da Southampton in Inghilterra il 10 Aprile 1912, con oltre 1500 passeggeri a bordo divisi in tre classi a seconda delle differenze sociali. La diciassettenne d’alta borghesia Rose DeWitt Bukater, promessa sposa a Caledon Hockley, incontra un passeggero di terza classe, Jack Dawson, e se ne innamora perdutamente. I due progettano di fuggire insieme verso una vita più libera e felice, ma nella notte tra il 14 e il 15 aprile il Titanic entra in collisione con un iceberg, gettando un ombra funesta sul futuro dei due innamorati.
IL FILM
Titanic
è senza dubbio il più grande film realizzato negli anni ’90,
generatore di un vero e proprio fenomeno sociale che l’ha
visto trionfare con critica e pubblico come pochi kolossal
possono ancora permettersi. James Cameron dirige la sua storia
con grande tecnica e molto sentimento, concedendosi licenze
poetiche che danno vita a scene emozionanti e suggestive tanto
quanto la ricostruzione del disastro: l’incontro tra Jack e
Rose è pieno di romanticismo e trasporto, giovani innamorati
che rendono indimenticabili sequenze cariche di tensione e
ardore come la scena del primo bacio, del ritratto, della
decisione di vivere per sempre insieme. Ma l’ineluttabilità
del destino è invincibile, i nostri eroi romantici verranno
separati dalla rivincita della natura sull’arroganza
dell’uomo, solo due delle numerose vittime di un incidente
tanto doloroso e infausto.
Jack
e Rose, imperniati di echi e ricordi degni di Romeo e Giulietta,
si fanno carico dell’impatto emotivo della storia, portando i
loro cuori nella centralità della vicenda e indispensabili nel
dare alla sfera tragica dell’evento un punto necessario per
regalare emozioni e momenti toccanti con la loro bellissima,
tragica e romantica storia d’amore.
Il personaggio di Rose domina il film, protagonista
imperfetta ma adorabile ben caratterizzata e arricchita
dall’interpretazione passionale
e intensa di Kate Winslet. Jack è l’eroe romantico,
l’appuntamento con il destino che salva la principessa perduta
e la libera dalle costrizioni sociali, ben impersonato da un Di
Caprio innocente e angelico con sfumature naturali e misurate.
Kate Winslet as Rose Dawson
Cameron
ben contrappone i due mondi opposti di Jack e Rose, infondendo
grande caratterizzazione ad entrambi, dipingendo un’atmosfera
contratta ed oppressa nelle scene ambientate in prima classe e
frenesia e vitalità in quelle di terza, senza mai perdere di
vista il Titanic, nave assoluta dominatrice del film ed
esplorata in tutto e per tutto con il suo impatto e la sua
grandiosità, sogno presto infranto di una società classista e
tecnologica.
Titanic
è un film maestoso e solenne, ad ampio respiro, eccellente in
tutte le sue parti (una menzione speciale per la suggestiva e
drammatica colonna sonora composta da James Corner), nella
storia d’amore drammatica e avvincente, nell’inabissamento
di una nave considerata inaffondabile e la tragedia che ne
consegue e nella cornice contemporanea forse afflitta da qualche
stonatura e superfluità evitabili, ma capace di generare
commozione e turbamento sulle conclusioni metaforiche di un
disastro che ha segnato un’epoca in modo altamente simbolico.
Da ricordare come il manifesto del legame tra il vecchio e il
nuovo: la passione delle vecchie e classiche storie d'amore
unita alla tecnologia più avanzata dei nostri anni. Un lungo
viaggio commovente, toccante e decisamente memorabile.
IL
PERSONAGGIO (Rose)
& L’INTERPRETAZIONE DI KATE WINSLET
Rose
DeWitt Bukater è una diciassettenne d'alta borghesia viziata e
sofferente. La madre Ruth la obbliga a sposare l'insopportabile
miliardario Caledon Hockley per far fronte ad una crisi
economica. Grazie all’incontro con Jack Dawson però, Rose
riesce a tirare fuori tutta la sua passione, il suo ardore, la
simpatia che tiene nascosta. Infatti, se all'inizio
ci appare come una rigida, composta, chiusa e altezzosa ragazza,
alla fine si trasforma delicatamente in una gentile, romantica,
appassionata e sarcastica donna amabile e affascinante.
Un personaggio complesso ma ben costruito per Kate Winslet, che
sta alla base di tutto il film e ne diventa il vero tema
portante. La storia d'amore è accompagnata dal graduale
cambiamento di Rose, che affronta il passaggio da ragazza ad
adulta e nel corso della storia ci mostra tutte le sue qualità
di donna divertente, ironica, romantica, che grazie a una
passione di tre giorni riesce a cambiare in meglio tutta la sua
vita. Un personaggio imperdibile per Kate Winslet, che in questo film ha l’onore di interpretare la parte migliore e di regalare la miglior performance: la Winslet è eccellente nel rivelare il cambiamento di Rose, con momenti altamente emozionanti e un immedesimazione totale nel ruolo. Kate interpreta con assoluta credibilità ogni minimo cambio di tono e di sfumatura, donando al personaggio la sua emotività, fisicità e intensità e riuscendo a far diventare Rose la nostra eroina.
Titanic:
frequently asked questions
Bogus
Titanic Claims Shown
Titanic
Captain Blamed For Wreck
The
above links point to a site sponsored by: The Shining Sea
Foundation and Prints of Poetry. Prints
of Poetry and The Shining Sea Foundation
general email: info@titanic-nautical.com webmaster: greg@titanic-nautical.com
RELATED SITES
The Titanic Historical Society, Inc. is also dedicated to preserving the history of this great ship and the White Star line that commissioned her. The Society was formed in 1963. THS invites you to visit the Titanic Museum, a unique collection of personal items donated by survivors and their families, historical documents and memorabilia from Titanic, Olympic, Britannic and White Star Line ships.
The
Titanic Historical Society, Inc. THS
homepage | Events
| Society
Facts | Museum
| Membership
SHIPPING RELATED LINKS
Baltic and International Maritime Council Australian Maritime Safety Authority California Maritime Academy Maine Maritime Museum Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Companies Maritime History and Naval Heritage Homepage Maritime Schools Pacific Maritime Group PORT - Maritime Information Gateway The International Maritime Organisation The Maritime History Virtual Archives The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic The Mother of All Maritime Links Welcome to Maritime Global Net
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