For many moviegoers, “Titanic” by James Cameron has a good place in the pantheon of the most beautiful films ever made. If its final scene is of great emotional force, James Cameron had shot another, very different one. We invite you to discover it above.
Titanic : James Cameron’s masterpiece
Released on French screens in January 1998, Titanic by James Cameron is the film of all records. As a great enthusiast, the director did not skimp on the means to bring his vision to the big screen, even if it means giving cold sweats to its producers. Indeed, some Fox executives resigned during the filming, for fear that the production of the film would sink their company (Cameron almost doubled the budget allocated to the film and had to give up part of his salary). But we can say with hindsight that the game was worth the candle.
With its impressive and very realistic staging and its tragically sublime love story, carried by the young Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the film caused a real tidal wave when it was released. Thus it becomes the biggest box office hit of all time (until 2009, not counting inflation).
In March 1998, Titanic won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. A record of statuettes that only two other films have obtained: Ben Hur and The king’s return.
The Alternate Ending: Rose and the Heart of the Ocean
In the theatrically released version, Titanic ends with Old Rose, who throws overboard the Heart of the Ocean, the famous necklace that the team aboard the ship has been searching for years. She then falls asleep in her cabin, and the film ends with a dream in which she returns to the cursed ocean liner, and finds her great love, Jack, as well as the other passengers who disappeared during the sinking. We can therefore think that it is of a metaphor to make us understand that she dies in her sleep (very warm in her bed, as Jack had promised her on that cursed board).
But in the original script, the ending was somewhat different (the video is available at the top of the article).
Indeed, Rose was surprised on the stern of the boat by her daughter and Lovett, who thought she wanted to jump, before realizing that she was holding the Heart of the Ocean in her hand. Lovett begged her not to throw it away, but she refused. He then asked him if he could at least touch the jewel once. She agreed, before telling him, using Jack’s expression:
Looking for treasures in the wrong place (…) only life is precious. Make every day count.
The scene ended with Rose throwing away the jewel, looking up at the sky and seeing a shooting star. This element was to be a constant in Cameron’s filmbut was cut during editing (which surely explains the reason for the choice of the final scene).
Indeed, in a first scene cut from TitanicJack was walking Rose back to the upper deck after their Third Class dance party, and the two of them were singing “Come Josephine, in my flying machine(which Rose picks up when she’s dying on the board: “come Josephine, in my flying machine“) before observing a shooting star in the sky, synonymous, according to Jack, with the rise of souls to heaven. This deleted scene can be seen here:
A shooting star must also have been present in the post sinking scenewhen Rose looks up at the sky on her board, just before she realizes Jack’s death.
We can then easily understand why the scene we know was preferred to this one.
If the secrets of Titanic fascinate you, we advise you to take a look at the tragic true story of the couple Isidor and Ida Straus, or at the deleted scenes that you must have seen.
