Titanic: Melodrama Done Right

Summary by Krater

This video analyses the cinematic technique of melodrama, examining how films like Titanic, All That Heaven Allows, and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul use emotion to achieve victory over repression.

From the video

Answers: What is the value of melodrama in cinema?

• melodrama in cinema
• emotional expression in film
• Douglas Sirk melodramas
• Titanic film analysis
• Ali: Fear Eats the Soul film analysis
• The Melodramatic Imagination

What it concludes

• Melodrama aims at a victory over repression through large gestures that express the meaning of relationships and existence.
• Melodrama came into its own when religion lost its moral force, articulating good and evil in a secular world.
• Titanic's message is that true love is a moral good that should not be limited by class differences.
• The moral core of melodrama does not intellectualize the story, but adds emotion through the flavor of virtue.
• Melodrama exists to shatter the blockage of self-consciousness, letting viewers access an ocean of feeling.