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10 things you didn't know about Titanic

10 things you didn't know about Titanic

Titanic has marked forever the collective memory of an entire generation. Released in 1997, it immediately became a cult classic thanks to the colossal power of its images and the subtext of love that held the romantics of the whole world glued in front of the screen for more than three hours.

Beyond the tragedy around which the events narrated are focused – the dramatic sinking of a huge transatlantic caused by the collision with an iceberg – the story would not have been so successful if it wasn’t for the love affair between Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet).

The two represent for the time (1912) the coveted breaking of social conventions – she’s rich and noble as he’s an artist without a dollar in his pocket – and let themselves be overwhelmed by an intense passion before parting forever between the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

But what did really happen during the shooting of the film directed by James Cameron? Revelation in 10 points.

#1 The studio wanted Tom Cruise to play the role of Jack Dawson, but James Cameron managed to impose himself opting for the young Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

#2 Kate Winslet suffered from pneumonia while shooting and was about to abandon the production.

 

#3 Titanic is the 10th movie by James Cameron, but it’s the first one ever in which he doesn’t use nuclear weapons.

 

#4 All the extras in the film were sent to a three-hour lecture on proper 1912 mannerism, to give the film a more authentic look.

 

#5 Gloria Stuart (the actress who plays the elderly version of Rose) is the only cast member who has actually lived in 1912.

 

#6 Titanic was the first film in which two actors were nominated for an Oscar for portraying the same character (Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet).

 

#7 The actors jumping in the Ocean are actually dipping into a 90 cm-deep pool.

 

#8 The elderly couple who dies in bed floating on the water is a tribute to Ida and Isidor Strauss, the owners of Macy's department stores, who tragically died in the crash.

 

#9 With the cost of James Cameron’s film, 5 Titanics could have been built.

 

#10 In 2012, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, an app for iPad that explores every detail of the life on the ship and all the gossips among the passengers has been launched.