Parents' Guide to A Night to Remember

While a fantastic movie on its own terms, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER is a fascinating counterpart to a certain Hollywood blockbuster also telling the story of the RMS Titanic's sinking. With probably 1/100th of Titanic's budget, A Night to Remember puts its faith far less on screaming special effects, blaring orchestral music, and romantic leading men, and far more on what actually happened, and (since this is an British film) the stiff upper-lipped stoicism of an English crew doing everything in their power to rescue the passengers in the face of difficult odds.

Those familiar with the films of Robert Altman might detect a similar treatment of story here -- as the camera spends a few minutes with the crew, then the passengers eating in the lush dining room, then the workers in the boiler room, the immigrants riding in third class, lingering long enough to get a sense of what's happening and layering it until the viewer gets an economical sketch of what's happening on the entire ship. Countless instances of heroism, courage, and fearlessness are displayed here, as are panic, fear, and the impending sense of tragedy when the last remnant of the Titanic sinks into the ocean. The pacing of the film is extraordinary, and even if you know how it's going to end, the depiction of the tragedy still affects us, 100 years later.