It’s been 22 years since 'Titanic' first graced our screens, and it’s had a continuing impact on pop culture. The movie made superstars out of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and also, Billy Zane was in it. Now, Brisbane company Act/React is remounting – or should that be refloating? – its hit comedy 'Titanic: The Movie, The Play' for the 2019 Anywhere Festival this May.
It’s a laugh-a-minute homage to the 1997 epic romance, featuring a replica of the Titanic’s iconic bow, as well as three actual lifeboats, and takes place at the historic Queensland Maritime Museum at South Brisbane.
To celebrate, we’re taking a look at five iconic 'Titanic' moments – all of which, you’ll be pleased to know, have found their way into Act/React’s loving parody.
“I’m the king of the world!”
This classic line was famously improvised, with Director James Cameron throwing Leo DiCaprio a bunch of options while filming in cold conditions in fading light. This cheesy delight was the one that stuck; chiefly because of how well a boyish DiCaprio could sell its joyful exuberance. James had that confirmed when he yelled the line at the Oscars after winning Best Director, and the whole world cringed.
“I’m flying!”
Cruise ship staff are still having to talk down excited couples trying to recreate this moment - with or without irony. Despite a lot of CGI used in the film, the sunset at this moment was apparently real, with the scene shot on set in Baja, Mexico, where James had constructed a massive Titanic replica in a huge water tank.
“Draw me like one of your French girls.”
Kate Winslet’s famous nude scene was one of the first she shot with Leonardo DiCaprio, and the pair didn’t know each other well and were understandably nervous. Jack’s instruction for Rose to “take a seat on the bed… The couch,” was a real mistake DiCaprio made that Cameron liked so much he kept in the final cut. And the hand drawing the portrait was not DiCaprio’s, but James Cameron’s own!
“To the stars!”
Typical teenagers: they’re on the greatest ship the world has ever seen, but they go to third base in a car. You couldn’t go anywhere steamy in the late '90s without someone doing that famous hand slide down the fogged-up window – it’s instantly recognisable.
“Never let go.”
It’s the moment of a thousand memes - Rose taking up all the room on that floating wooden board, leaving Jack to freeze to death in the dark North Atlantic water. Even Kate Winslet has said she thinks there was room enough for both of them. But the issue was buoyancy, as two people on the board would have sunk it too low into the water. In 2012, 'Mythbusters' found they could survive – but only if they tied Rose’s lifejacket underneath the board to give it more lift. And who’s going to think of that after riding a ship to its grave and watching a man fall into its propellers?
'Titanic: The Movie, The Play' is on at Queensland Maritime Museum from 11-26 May.
