Line #19 Film/SavingTheTitanic


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saving_titanic.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Because for some, a tale about the crew members most people tend to overlook is a dozen times more compelling than a sappy love story.]]
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4	->''"What is she compared to the sea?"''
5	-->-- '''Chief Engineer Joseph Bell'''
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7	Take the oft-portrayed ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' tale, depict it in the point of view of crew members people mostly overlook in favour of StarCrossedLovers or affluent passengers, i.e. the engineering and boiler room crew, sprinkle it with drama and you'll end up with a film like this.
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9	Narrated by Liam Cunningham and starring David Wilmot and Ciarán [=McMenamin=], ''Saving The Titanic'' is a 2012 [[UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}} Irish]]-[[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} German]] {{Docudrama}} revolving around the efforts of the ill-fated ship's engineers and stokers at keeping the ship afloat for as long as she possibly could, [[DelayingAction buying passengers some time]] to board the lifeboats. Told InMediasRes, Leading Fireman Frederick Barrett ([=McMenamin=]) is summoned by the White Star Line to be part of an inquiry on the sinking, in hopes that the company would paint a rosy picture of what happened during that fateful night. This film is also notable for being more about a particular group of people on board (i.e. the aforementioned crew) than on the usual cast of characters typical of a ''Titanic'' drama.
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11	----
12	!!The show provides examples of:
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14	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Given how not much is known about the engineers and stokers' actions during the actual disaster, this was to be expected. The coal bunker fire theory [[DocumentaryOfLies popularised]] by Senan Molony and implied to be a major factor for the disaster in the film was thoroughly debunked by a number of ''Titanic'' scholars and enthusiasts such as [=YouTuber=] and White Star Line fan Spammals and the ''Titanic Honor and Glory'' dev team. The photographic blemish as seen in ''Titanic -- The New Evidence'' could be dismissed as just that, a ''blemish'', rather than a warped section of the hull indicating an AchillesHeel which may have exacerbated things, if that was a contributing factor at all.
15	* AscendedExtra: Whilst the firemen, trimmers, and engineers were hardly even extras in RealLife for their valiant efforts, ''Saving The Titanic'' strove to give them justice and memorialise them as opposed to a few minutes of screen time in most portrayals.
16	* TheCaptain: While the closest Captain Smith comes to appearing in the film is via secondhand references to his orders, Chief Engineer Joseph Bell is effectively the captain of the ''Titanic's'' engineering crew. He even wears the same rank insignia as Captain Smith.
17	* CoversAlwaysLie: There were no waves or clouds at the night of the sinking.
18	* DamageControl: The entire focus of the film is the ship's engineers and stokers trying to delay or prevent the ''Titanic'' from sinking.
19	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:None of the engineering crew made it, and neither did the electricians survive the ordeal. A few firemen and trimmers did make it out alive, Barrett included.]]
20	* TheEngineer: The film focuses on the ''Titanic's'' engineering crew and their efforts to keep the ship afloat and the emergency systems working long enough for help to arrive. Special attention is given to Joseph Bell, ''Titanic's'' Chief Engineer.
21	* ForegoneConclusion: The ''Titanic'' ultimately sinks, as history would tell you.
22	* TheGhost: It sure makes you wonder where Captain Smith, J. Bruce Ismay, and Molly Brown, let alone Jack Thayer or Harold Bride, were in the film. But that isn't what the story is about.
23	** Recurring ''Titanic'' figure Thomas Andrews does make appearances though, and with Smith sort of absent in the story, Engineer Bell became something of an {{Expy}} for the captain, like when Andrews informs him that the ship is a lost cause and must be abandoned by any means possible.
24	* HopeSpot: Barrett and the rest of the ship's stokers, firemen, and engineers manage to empty Boiler Room 6 of water. However, by then the water in ''Titanic's'' bow causes the compartment to flood, dooming the ship and rendering their efforts pointless.
25	* HowWeGotHere: The film starts in New York where Barrett is summoned to testify and recount his experiences on board.
26	* MrExposition: A number of characters fill this role at various points, most notably:
27	** Frank Bell, apprentice at Harland and Wolff and son of Chief Engineer Joseph Bell, who explains the workings of ''Titanic's'' engines under quizzing from his father, and, in conjunction with Thomas Andrews, explains the functioning of the ship's watertight compartments.
28	** As in many ''Titanic'' retellings, Thomas Andrews is present to explain the catastrophic nature of the damage to the ship.
29	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: [[spoiler:Disgusted at being UsedAllAlong in exchange for being portrayed by White Star as "heroes", Barrett leaves the offices, while his colleague Paddy gleefully accepts the offer.]]
30	* SinkingShipScenario: The film is mainly set as the ''Titanic'' is sinking following her fatal collision with the iceberg.
31	* TheWatson: Perhaps surprisingly, it is Chief Engineer Bell who largely fills this role, allowing the engineers and electricians serving under him to showcase their expertise. In one instance, he's seen asking a subordinate engineer about the number and capacity of the ship's pumps, which will be needed to keep Boiler Room 5 from flooding for as long as possible. In another scene, he orders the ship's electricians to provide power for the emergency systems, leaving it to them to work out - and explain for the audience's benefit - just how they can get enough steam pressure to run the generators.
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Context Film / SavingTheTitanic