Production of "Titanic" was anything but smooth sailing (一帆风顺). Numerous (许多的 大量的) production delays and massive budget overruns threatened to sink the movie before it was even released.
Despite these setbacks, the epic film of the unsinkable luxury liner (邮轮) achieved significant critical and commercial success, and later received numerous accolades (赞誉 赞美).
The film begins with eerie (怪异而令人恐惧的) actual footage of the real Titanic lying in its watery grave two and a half miles below the sea.
The dramatic focus is then provided by 101-year-old Rose, a Titanic survivor who recounts her own experiences on the maiden voyage (初航) of the doomed (难逃一死的 注定的) ship.
As a teenager, Rose was a precarious(不牢靠的 不稳的) member of high society, whose status would be cemented (巩固) by marrying a loathsome (令人憎恶的 令人呕吐的) steel baron (大亨) named Cal.
However, during the voyage she falls desperately in love with Jack, a poor boy of whom she promises to never let go.
Titanic the ship is a microcosm (缩影) of class relations and stratification (分层) with the upper class in the upper decks (上层甲板) and the lower class restricted to steerage (下等舱室).
The film has no shortage of moments juxtaposing (把不同的事物并置 并列) the two classes, chief among them being the stuffy rich party followed by the lively poor one.