Culture news “No disrespect” This cult James Cameron film ends badly for a very good reason
The history of cinema is punctuated with anecdotes, each one more juicy than the last. Over the years, tongues often loosen, and James Cameron is no exception to the rule. The director of Terminator and the Avatar saga recently returned to one of his greatest masterpieces and more precisely to a decision made which left a lasting impression on spectators. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character dies at the end of Titanic for a good reason.
A cult ending for Titanic
Titanic was released 27 years ago, it’s no longer a spoiler. There is, so to speak, a prescription. The end of the film directed by James Cameron is marked by the tragic death of Jack Dawson played by Leonardo DiCaprio under the helpless gaze of his love Rose DeWitt Bukater. Chilled with cold, the latter ends up letting go of the famous door on which Kate Winslet is standing and reaching the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.
No Happy Ending for Jack and Rose, which did not fail to upset the spectators who constantly return to this event. To defend his vision, James Cameron highlights his fierce desire to offer the public as realistic an experience as possible while being respectful of the people who died during this maritime disaster. It is for this reason – respect – that death separates our two lovebirds at the end of the film. During an interview conducted by our colleagues from Le Parisien, James Cameron spoke about this sequence which still remains in 2024 one of the saddest and most touching in the 7th Art.
I wanted to offer as much realism as possible to the spectators, especially for the sequence where the liner sinks, underlines James Cameron. People often ask me “Why does Jack have to die at the end?” Because, in my opinion, a happy ending would have disrespected the tragedy of the event. However, when at the end Rose dreams or dies, they are reunited. When we were filming the final sequence, Gloria Stuart, who played the elderly Rose, asked me: “So, Mr. Director, should I play her dead or alive?” I replied: “Hold your breath”! -James Cameron
Titanic, the film of all records
With its estimated budget of $200 million, Titanic is one of the most ambitious cinematographic projects undertaken at the end of the 20th century. James Cameron even refused to be paid in order to compensate for the explosion in production costs. Great good came to him because Titanic was a huge hit at the cinema. This “historic” film is still the fourth biggest international box office success in 2024 with 2.258 billion US dollars collected. And its release in 2023 for a limited time on the occasion of its 25th anniversary has only rekindled the flame of passion in the hearts of fans.
Moreover, Titanic left the 1998 Oscars with 11 statuettesthus equaling the record held by Ben-Hur since 1960. Here are the Oscars won by Titanic: Best film, Best director (James Cameron), Best cinematography, Best editing, Best sets, Best costumes, Best visual effects, Best original song ( “My Heart Will Go On”), Best Film Score and Best Sound.