titanica / story
Titanica follows an expedition to the wreck site of the R.M.S. Titanic, 12,500 feet below the surface of the Atlantic. Filmed from the twin deep sea Russian submersibles Mir 1 and Mir 2, Titanica immerses audiences in the adventure, as the international team of explorers investigates the hull and debris field on the ocean floor. In counterpoint to the expedition, the film reveals the building of the great ship, documented in stunning period images and, poignantly, the remembrances of an elderly Eva Hart, once a seven-year-old passenger aboard the doomed ship.
More About the Story
Bringing out the drama in a non-fiction documentary is part of director Stephen Low's approach to filmmaking and Titanica is no exception. Low directs real people and real situations to tell a story, create character development and capture emotions in a way that makes audiences feel they are watching a drama.
Low weaves several stories throughout the feature-length film: the construction of the Titanic, the world's largest and most luxurious ship in the Belfast shipyards; the personal and haunting tale of the sinking as told by survivor Eva Hart; and the high-risk underwater adventures of the members of the international expedition who come to the project with separate missions.
Titanica focuses on six main characters, all radically different, each with his own obsession about the Titanic, and each at the pinnacle of his profession. "The expedition members are absolutely wild and amazing people, far more outrageous than anything you'll see in a drama," says Low. "We meet Dr. Steve Blasco, a geologist obsessed with mud; Dr. Lev Moskalev "a.k.a. Big Lev", a biologist crazy about tiny microbes; Ralph White, a world expert on the Titanic who's treasure-obsessed; Dr. Anatoly Sagalevitch, leader of the expedition and an engineer trying to save his research vessels by publicizing them; Emory Kristof, a renowned National Geographic photographer and inventor and finally, Evgeny Chernjaev, the very quiet submersible pilot who has nerves of steel and did almost all of the dives. It's a really wonderful story of these underwater people."
Juxtaposed with these vivid characters is a Titanic survivor from England, Eva Hart. Eva was seven years old when the Titanic went down with her father. "She remembers everything— she talks about her childhood experiences on the ship, playing the piano. She's the one who touches on what it really means. I liked her story because it's real. She sees it as a personal tragedy. Eva is the emotional balance in the film, the counterpoint to human obsession," says Low.
