I still don't like fucking with
history for dramatic purposes. But at least Titanic
showed me what can happen when such things are done with finesse and poise. The dramatic
subplot of that movie gave me a strong foothold into the world of 1912. Thanks to the
Sturges family, I was able to shoehorn my way into their universe, and get my emotions up
when the boat sinks.
And now for something completely different . . .
A Night to Remember actually breaks from the Titanic pack. While most of these movies (okay, the 2 I've seen) begin as the Titanic steams out of port, Night goes all the way back to the Unsinkable ship's christening. Queen Elizabeth (uh-huh, right . . .) gets the honor of wasting good champagne, and makes with the following platitude: "May God bless her and all who sail in her."
I tried not to laugh. I really, really did. I failed, but it's the thought that counts, right?
We'll find that A Night to Remember differs quite a lot from its brethren before the movie's over. Biased on the book by Walter Lord, Night not only showcases the problems with bringing real life incidents to film, it also highlights the problems of translating a book to film. Right off the bat, Night has two strikes. However, this collection of survivor stories does have a few things in its corner.
First, there's, 2nd Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller (Kenneth More). While the stiff upper lip, oh-so-proper attitude of most British actors usually annoys me, More pulled me in right away. Mostly because his character gets all the good lines. In fact, his character also gets most of the character.
For ten minutes we see various characters leave the comfort and safety (or discomfort and squalor) of their homes. Given the fact that we learn little, if anything, about any of these people during the movie, these look like so much padding. Twenty-twenty hindsight, I guess.
Because once those ten minutes are up, we cut straight to April 14, 1912. And iceberg hits the ship and rakes a 300-foot gash in the right side. Titanic's compartments begin flooding, and people begin to panic. As well they should. Lightoller is put in charge of emptying the women and children into the life boats, and through his eyes we see the crew and passengers scramble to deal with this big pile they've suddenly stepped into.
Again, unlike its sister-movies, Night presents the story of the sinking dead to rights and straightforward. Eric Ambler's script seems to seriously try to keep it real at every turn. There are no romantic subplots, no soap opera-ish intrigue, no Romeo and Juliet rip-offs. Nothing. Nada. I've never read Mr. Lord's book, but if the script it spawned is any indication, I'd guess it's a collection of tales told to Mr. Lord by actual Titanic passengers. And, as we know, real life is never as complicated, sordid, or stereotypical as fiction.
This is not a character movie. Even Lightoller (the closest thing to a main character here, probably because he was the highest-ranking survivors) is given only the barest lip service. He's married. That's all we get. Ken More has to stretch his acting muscle, not only to make his character believable, but to make him a person, past and all. The remaining characters only wish they had Lightoller's lip service. More than once the camera focused on a person and I asked, "Who are you again?"
But, at the same time, there's a level of tension and believability no other Titanic movie has managed to reach. There's nothing larger then life to put a highpro gloss on things, just simple, stupid lives of 2000 people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, Director Baker lucked out mightily, recruiting a cast of talented actors that do the near impossible: flesh characters out with the force of their talent. The damn thing is sinking, and I have no trouble accepting that this is what real people did while it went down.
Also helping the believability (christening scene aside) is the lack of any major factual errors. (Except for, ya know, that while ship-splitting-in-half thing, but, what, me nit-pick?) Night even goes so far as to expand the story, including tales of the Carpathia and the Californian, two ships that could have saved the Titanic if not for fate and human error. Bad luck and stupidity killed more passengers than any iceberg, and highlighting that fact adds to the tragedy of it all.
Special effects show their age occasionally. Much as I hate it, nothing is going to compete with Cameron's little dime novel in the special effects arena. Thankfully, the sinking doesn't embarrass anyone, and actually pulls you in even further. As the ship goes down Baker's camera doesn't focus on the destruction, but on the people jumping off the stern trying to escape.
That's what this movie remembers best: that the Titanic disaster had a human face. That people, real people, lost their lives. It wasn't about romance, or politics. Hell, it wasn't even about microcosms of society. The disaster was a senseless loss of human life thanks to the demons of arrogance and stupidity. It ain't happy, and it won't give you a warm, fuzzy feeling as the credits roll, but it's the truth.
Or, at least as close to the truth as a movie dares to get.
