Hey man, no worries on the English language thing. Your English is better than my Spanish (I'm assuming that is your native tongue?)...and on top of that you did post some very good points and in a second language no less.
The comparision I was making with regards to Titanic and Fellini had nothing whatsoever to do with the films...but rather the fan base. If you tell people that you think Titanic is a VERY great film, immediately they come up with some great line like, "You don't know art" or "You'll go your entire life without understanding great art" or "Titanic is Michael Jackson to Fellini being Pink Floyd", really insightful stuff like that.
My post was merely to show that you can love Titanic, admire it, respect it as one of the greatest works of modern cinema, and still understand what "great art" is and appreciate Fellini. They're independent of each other, Cameron and Fellini, as you say. Film snobs, of which I call myself one, come off as elitist pricks when they thumb their noses at Titanic and believe ONLY Fellini and Goddard and Eisenstein and Malle and Cocteau are worth watching. This is flat untrue. James Cameron is every bit the great writer and director those individuals are. You don't make a billion dollars on a film without doing something right. Again, I stand by my post, no one here or anywhere else can name me a better director in the third act of a film in the history of cinema. He is THE best in history in that regard. Fellini snobs can whine about that all they want but it's the truth.
The only other comparision I made between Fellini and Cameron was when I was DEFENDING Fellini! The poster who started this said, "Fellini is so overrated." To which I responded by saying that Alexander Payne hit it right when talking about La Dolce Vita when he called it a novel style "five act story" and not a typical "three act" film. I merely suggested that in that regard, it is like many historical epics: Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, and of course Titanic.
I have made very great arguments (if I may say so myself!) that Titanic is one of the greatest films of all time, and that doesn't make me any less educated or respectful of Fellini's work. For time's sake, I'll spare you my entire posts or critique on Titanic but here is a few things to consider when watching Titanic:
1. "The Heart of the Ocean" is the EXACT same narrative technique employed by Wells in Citizen Kane in "Rosebud". Both are the catalysts that propel a past story from a point in the future to a narrative in past tense. Nobody mentions how well STRUCTURED Titanic's script is, but everybody bashes how corny the dialogue is. Hey, Star Wars is as corny as a wheat field in Kansas, but it's considered, "high art".
2. Cameron has created a VERY great script in terms of how it moves the plot. The dialogue can come off corny at times, I give you. But Cameron uses dialogue to drive the action, not the characters. The Dialogue is very good at navigating you, the audience through the stories narrative. It's not the type of dialogue that reveals characters as in films like, "Closer" or "Dolce Vita" or "Casablanca", you know that going into the film because it's an "action" film. I give you an example of how great and underrated Cameron's script is: Recall the virtual display where Old Rose is shown an animation of what happened when the ship sank. That is screenwriting genius because when the ship is actually sinking three hours later, the audience knows what's going on and is focused on the characters and HOW they act to solve the main problem rather than scratching their heads saying, "Why is the ship turning right side up again?" Further, it lets the audience focus on Cameron's masterful CGI work and directing when you could be asking yourself, "Why did the ship just break in half?" Titanic is very subtle in how it manages to get the audience to feel tense about a shipwreck that you know is coming, so I respectfully disagree with you on that point.
These are two of a handful of very valid arguments I can put forth on its behalf, but I'll spare you the rest.
So, what I hope you and others take from all this is: not all Titanic fans are teenage girls who love Leo--I dislike him very much. And unlike most fans, I can actually back up and justify my argument in a thoughtful manner and feel confident posting said arguments on a Fellini message board rife with film snobs and gumshoe screenwriters who thumb their nose at Titanic and say things like "I could do better". Well, if you're so f!*&$!# talented, go out there and make a movie that gets 9/10 people to cry and makes a billion dollars in the process. Just because I like Titanic doesn't mean I don't like Fellini or lose any credibility on my opinions regarding his work. I believe Nights of Cabiria to be one of the most touching films ever put out...and 8 1/2, while personally not my cup of tea, I have enormous respect for because it is one of the all-time greats and is beautifully shot.
Great film, like great music comes in many forms. Rap is just as important as Mozart, and can be just as good. To merely dismiss popular art like Titanic because it isn't "deep" to literary snobs is a very sad way to watch movies because watching movies is above all else, supposed to be fun. Just like debating on a message board with a good guy from Argentina! Take care and enjoy the winter down there. By the way, Diego rules!
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