lex 🍂’s review published on Letterboxd:
i've been thinking all day about how to review this. this will be long-ish and rambling - you've been warned.
i watched this for the first time in february 2012, when i was 10 years old. i can hardly remember a time in my life when this wasn't one of the most important films in the world to me. this and jaws were the two most formative movies of my pre-teen years, and honestly, still to this day. and while i do consider good will hunting my favorite film (let's be honest, jaws, titanic or good will hunting are all viable options for my favorite movie of all time), there's nothing quite like this movie for me. jaws reminds me of summer and nostalgia, while good will hunting urges me to look at my life and make myself better. titanic is something entirely different.
while jaws was the first "grown up movie" i ever loved, titanic was my first ever fandom. i had an instagram fan page that i would update multiple times every day, as well as fan pages for kate & leo. i so completely immersed myself in the world of this movie any way i could. i genuinely would come home every single day from school and put this film on. every. single. day. and whenever i wasn't watching it, i was listening to the soundtrack, which remains my favorite movie score/soundtrack to this day. this movie feels like coming home. i admittedly grapple with that a little bit, considering the movie is about a real life tragedy, but rest assured, it's just the first hour & a half that's pure comfort for me.
this is my most rewatched film of all time, hands down. no question. it unlocks something in me that no other film seems to be able to. anyone who's been around me for more than 5 minutes knows exactly how much this movie means to me. so much of my personality stems from this movie - it sparked a love of history in me, which is what i'm majoring in and about to go to grad school for. it was the first time that i wanted to go beyond a movie and actually learn the history behind it. not only did i immerse myself in the film, but i read countless books and articles about the ship itself - i still do to this day.
i'd be remiss without also mentioning that this movie made me a huge fan of kate's, which i'm sure it did for many other people as well. she has been such a huge inspiration to me since i was a kid and she's my favorite actress of all time. i adore her & everything she stands for, and i'm so glad people like her exist.
i had seen this in theaters when it was rereleased for the 15th anniversary back in 2012, but i don't really remember it much. but today, i got to go and experience it in theaters by myself and it was one of the best theater experiences i've ever had. i couldn't help but grin through the first hour; i was just so happy to be seeing this on the big screen where it belongs. it was exactly the pick-me-up i've been needing, and i'm already so tempted to go back sometime next week.
all of this rambling is basically just to say - i love this movie with my entire heart and there's really no words that would be able to fully convey how much this movie means to me. this senseless rambling was a poor attempt at conveying it, but i hope i made myself clear enough. i am so unbelievably grateful that this film exists and that i get to watch it as many times as i want.
