Another Tragedy
After 111 years since the sinking of the Titanic, an additional accident adds to the existing tragedy . On June 22nd, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that a missing submersible near the Titanic wreckage had suffered an implosion, resulting in the death of all five people on board.
The submarine missing for days, "Titan," accommodated up to five individuals at its full capacity, including a captain, a Titanic expert, and three paying tourists each charged approximately $250,000.
On June 18th, the Titan departed for the Titanic wreck site that was two miles deep, where it was supposed to embark on an expedition for several hours as planned. The submarine entered the water in the morning and contact was lost with the support vessel roughly one hour and forty-five minutes later. After several days of intense and highly complex search, the United States Coast Guard reported finding debris near the Titanic site. Ocean Gate Expeditions, the company involved, stated that all five individuals on board, including the CEO, Stockton Rush, were believed to have died.

James Cameron, the legendary director who helmed the famous film "Titanic," stated that the incident bore striking similarities to the Titanic disaster, both brought by indifference to warnings.

Cameron's viewpoint is significant not only due to his deep understanding of the Titanic but also because of his profound knowledge of the ocean.
He is a director and an ocean expert.
Cameron's "Deepsea Challenge"
In 1998, the film "Titanic" swept 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Music. It also achieved great success at the box office, holding the record as the highest-grossing film for over a decade until Cameron's aother film, "Avatar," was released in 2011.
During those 12 years, Cameron only made two films. Though aware that four and a half years had been spent on "Avatar," people were still puzzled by the relatively low output, especially when Cameron had a reputation as "Hollywood's hardest-working director."
One thing explains: he was devoted to his childhood dream of diving into the depths of the ocean.

Human footprints have been left on the moon, and rovers are exploring the surface of Mars. We can even access satellite pictures of any location on Earth with a simple Google search. As a result, we often think that our planet has been fully explored. However, the depths of the oceans remain a mystery, with only glimpses of the extreme depths. There lies the last great frontier of our world, in the form of 12 trenches over 4 miles deep. These trenches stretch thousands of miles and have a combined area greater than that of North America.
On March 26, 2012, James Cameron piloted his solo deep-sea submersible, the Deepsea Challenger, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known place of Earth's oceans. The expedition rivaled the moon landing and garnered worldwide attention. National Geographic described it as "a turning point in how we approach ocean science" and "a renaissance in deep sea exploration." In 2013, the documentary film "Deepsea Challenge" was completed, showcasing not only the wonders of the ocean abyss but also Cameron's seven-year journey through life and death to accomplish this record-setting challenge.
After finishing "Deepsea Challenge" on a flight felt like I had traveled to another world.
It seemed like just a moment ago I was in a submarine, descending to the depths of a 36,000-feet ocean abyss, before slowly ascending back to the surface through boundless darkness.
The film begins with Cameron's childhood, during which he was always fascinated by the mysterious ocean. He reminisces, "As a kid, I started preparing for these dives by getting in a cardboard box, closing the lid, and imagining it was a submarine... I just loved that stuff."
The tremendous success of "Titanic" brought him the funds to fulfill his dream. He finally had the opportunity to assemblea team of scientists to explore the oceans.
To reach the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, Cameron's team built a single-person submersible that imitated the vertical posture of deep-sea fish, descending straight down. The vehicle, called the "Deepsea Challenger", had sleek lines and sophisticated instruments, surpassing even the equipments of many government research teams. Cameron drew inspiration from certain fish that hover over the reef in a vertical position, demonstrating that it's not an unreasonable idea that a submersible can move through the water in an upright position.

The documentary is enriched with captivating elements, making it far from boring. It included footage of the Japanese tsunami, the deep-sea dives conducted in 1960, and Cameron's explorations of the wreckage of the Titanic and the battleship Bismarck. Additionally, it showcased mysterious and awe-inspiring underwater landscapes and indescribable marine life, which also provided inspiration for "Avatar."

The Deepsea Challenge occurred in the last half-hour of the film. The camera followed Cameron as he squeezed into the narrow confines of the submersible and gradually descended into the depths of the ocean. Despite the limited space, which barely allowed him to extend his arms, Cameron brought along a 3D camera to capture authentic and immersive footage.
"Release, Release, Release. When the dive begins, it's exciting. The divers become little tiny stick figures, and everything just kind of disappears. Then you just go into darkness. You can see the plankton going by, and you just fall for a long, long time."

The entire deep dive process was not without challenges. As the depth increased, the pressure grew, causing many instruments that had worked fine on the surface to malfunction. "He's not hearing us or responding to us." "Depth gauge is not changing." "My thrusters are running away and they won't respond."
But it's such an extremely rare opportunity for such a deep dive that Cameron decided to continue. "Going deeper into the ocean is like going deeper into the subconscious. The deeper we go, the bigger the monsters become."
Gradually, the dive depth surpassed the limits of life, all traces of organisms disappeared, and Cameron arrived at the deepest point of the world. Through the camera, we witnessed a place that was clean and desolate like the surface of the moon. In this world, humans seemed insignificant. For most of our lives, we huddle together in the warmth of human company, but down here, alone, there is a purity that is indescribable.
Under the immense pressure of the deep sea, the horizontal thrusters gradually failed, leaving the submersible immobilized on the seabed. The only option was to rise. With a sense of fulfillment and regret, Cameron departed the underwater world. The submarine slowly ascended, ultimately returning to reality.
At the end of the film, Cameron's conclusion resonates: "Every explorer shares a common trait. They understand that the risks are worthwhile because they are expanding the realm of knowledge."
His words also honors the five adventurers who lost their lives in the "Titan" accident. They were true explorers.
Before and After
After his deep-sea exploration, Cameron returned to filmmaking. His 2022 release, "Avatar 2," features a variety of marine creatures inspired by his past underwater experiences.
This is not Cameron's only first film sparked by ocean. His earlier acclaimed film, "Titanic," originated from his profound insights drawn from a deep-sea dive to the wreckage of the Titanic in 1995.

In fact, Cameron's passion for the ocean is evident as early as in the 1989 sci-fi film "The Abyss," which depicts a rescue team diving into the depths of an abyss where a submarine disappeared and encountering unknown creatures.
In the next article, I will analyze the maritime elements in Cameron's films and explore how he translates his love for the ocean into captivating cinema. Stay tuned for more updates.

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