The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1998)

Overwhelmingly romantic, subtly cynical, and constantly entertaining, "The Chambermaid and the Titanic" is an example of how to make a superb film for less than $200 million.

A delightful success, a mature and visually dazzling meditation on illusion and reality, romantic longing, human identity and the art of storytelling.

The Chambermaid on the Titanic is a pretentious French art film that explores the power of storytelling. When a factory worker named Horty wins a ticket to go see the launching of the new luxury liner RMS Titanic, he returns with a tantalizing tale of a night that he spent with one of the ship's chambermaids, and with each telling the tale grows, attracting more and more people to come hear his stories. Olivier Martinez and Aitana Sanchez-Gijon give fairly strong performances and have impressive on-screen chemistry. However, the script (particularly the dialog) is poorly written. And the director doesn't do a very good job at selling the romanticism and passion of Horty's storytelling. Additionally, a lot of the satire and humor falls flat, and the special effects are horrendous (especially the Titanic models and graphics). Incredibly disappointing, The Chambermaid on the Titanic lacks focus and doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be.