On April 10, 1912, when she left Southhampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York, she was the largest ship afloat. The wealthiest people in the world and the poorest were aboard. Some 2,224 souls walked her decks, leaned over the railings, and marveled at her speed and beauty. She was the Titanic.

In the rain on April 18, 2012 at 9:30 pm, the RMS Carpathia docked at New York’s Pier 54. Watched by over 40,000, the surviving 710 passengers and crew walked down the gangplank and reached their intended destination. The rest never would. The cold waters of the North Atlantic claimed their lives as it did the broken parts of the ship thought unsinkable.

The RMS Titanic hit the iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14, 2012. At 2:20 am on April 15, 2012, two hours and 40 minutes later, she was gone. No one knows for sure what happened before, during and following those two hours.

James Cameron filmed what he saw, wrote and drew before, during and after those two hours.

The movie “Titanic” was released in the US on December 19, 1997 and won eleven (11) Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron. It was the first film to reach the billion dollar mark. There is great historical and factual detail in the film. The Titanic was masterfully reconstructed and tragically lost. It looks and feels like the real thing, even though it is not. The story of the two young lovers is magically created and tragically ended. It looks and feels like it is real, though of course it cannot be. This is Hollywood. For both the ship and her lovers, there is much that is real and much that is not, but such a showing of both that we would never know or we would know somehow more than both show and life. This is the movies at their best.

And, the music. Such music.

Our audience was captivated, mesmerized, fantasized, hurt, saddened and entertained.

In 175 words, here is what they said, saw and felt of the 70th show to win the Oscar for Best Picture:

For a movie about one of the most famous sinkings of all time, “Titanic” is remarkable for being more than a ship’s tale; one viewer made the point well: “Romance or disaster, you make the call”; this is director, producer and film editor James Cameron’s masterpiece (he won Oscars in all three categories), and he wrote the story and sketched the picture that draws it all together; fascinatingly, the music was perhaps the most liked single item — this is a marvelous fantasy set to a gorgeous score with two pretty young actors (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet); yes, it is a disaster but the romance sees past the expected to the not-so-expected; the cleverness of the presentation and the winsomeness of the action carry the audience through the horrific near-term to that last surprising drop into the sea; the viewers depart quite pleasantly entertained, which is perhaps the true role of Hollywood; for that, the film was awarded a 9.50 average rating, placing the show high at #6 of the first 70 Best Pictures.

The single word for the movie was: Unexpected. To be that when you are filming one of the most expected events in history is to say much indeed and to truly reflect beyond film to life itself.

Thank you for reading and enjoy the music before you depart.

Grandpa Jim