A look back at “Titanic”, a veritable monument to James Cameron released in 1997, and the mythical replica of Leonardo DiCaprio which was improvised by the director during filming.
We are at the beginning of Titanic. Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) has just embarked – just – on the gigantic liner, and is exploring the unsinkable alongside his friend Fabrizio. Galvanized by the ocean spray that splashed his face, leaning over the bow of the ship, he stretched out his arms and declaimed towards the horizon a line that will be remembered:
“I am the master of the world !” (in OV, “I’m the king of the world!”)
Contrary to what one might imagine, this little sentence, which can easily be considered the most famous of the feature film, did not appear in the original script. Indeed, as he revealed at the microphone of the show Movies That Made Me on the BBC in 2019, James Cameron totally improvised it on set:
“It was invented on the spot”he said. “I was in a basket, on a crane, we were losing the light. We had tried several things, several replicas, and nothing seemed to really work.”
20th Century Fox
It was at this point that Cameron decided to make one last attempt, and to offer his comedian a very simple and powerful sentence:
“I gambled it all, and said [à Leonardo DiCaprio] : ‘I have a line for you. Just say ‘I am the king of the world’ with your arms wide open, just be in the moment, celebrate the moment.’ And in the walkie-talkie he said to me: ‘What??'”
Despite his doubts, DiCaprio ultimately followed James Cameron’s directive, turning the little phrase into an unforgettable movie moment.
(Re)discover all the hidden details of “Titanic”…