One Hundred Years a Head–On Collision A. Bark
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2012 TITANIC One Hundred Years A Head–On Collision A. Bark 2012 TITANIC One Hundred Years ©2002 A. Bark National Library of Australia ISBN: 0 949384 73 9 AN ADAPTATION Dutch Title 2012 TITANIC HONDERD JAAR JAN VAN BUUREN PROLOGUE On April 14, 2012, it will be exactly one hundred years since the “Unsinkable” Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage. As time goes by, this disastrous event will keep appealing to the imagination of a growing number of people. It will continue to inspire writers and moviemakers alike. Since we, the authors of “Titanic 100 Years”, have been subject to this mysterious phenomenon ourselves, we have decided to launch yet another film about this legendary Ocean Liner. However, it will be a variation on an existing theme so to speak. It will, beyond any doubt, surprise the whole world to learn what could have and what should have happened on that gruelling night of April 14. In “Titanic 100 Years”, we have elaborated on this basic idea, thus providing the script- writers with the necessary material for their scenario while purposely giving them plenty of leeway for their personal interpretation. EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE TITANIC IN 1912: The First Officer on duty, William McMaster Murdoch, just before his evasive action, had closed, from the bridge, the electrically controlled watertight doors that separated the sixteen compartments into which the ship was divided. Unfortunately, a spur of ice jutting from the iceberg had cut six thin slits through the one-inch-thick steel plates, twenty feet below the waterline. The sea had rushed into the hull at the rate of almost seven tons per second. Each of the six forward compartments had suffered its own individual damage. Since that was two more than the crucial four, the ship couldn’t possibly stay afloat. As a result, disaster was inevitable. Initially, “Titanic 100 Years” gives you nothing but a factual description of the voyage as it proceeded in reality. Seconds before the fatal moment however, fiction begins. In our new film, Murdoch DOES NOT TRY TO AVOID THE LOOMING ICEBERG; HE OPTS FOR A HEAD-ON COLLISION INSTEAD, because he sights the pinnacled black mass too late. The decision to make this manoeuvre is of course the complete opposite of what anyone in his right mind would have normally made; indeed, it SEEMS incredibly absurd. Yet, from hindsight, we know that it was the only correct one under the then existing circumstances. Since only the first two compartments crumple under the impact, THE TITANIC DOES NOT SINK. 1 Consequently, there is no need to lower the lifeboats. There is no need for passengers and crew members to jump overboard in a desperate attempt to save their lives. This time, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, William Murdoch’s assistant during the First Watch from 8 p.m. till midnight, will not be the hero who returned to the scene of the accident to rescue another four people by pulling them out of the icy waters. “Titanic 100 Years” deals with the fact that Her Majesty, considered unsinkable in 1912, remains indeed unsinkable. With her bow plunged deep into the water, she completes her maiden voyage and steams safely into New York Harbour. The cost of the necessary repairs to be carried out is considerable, though much less than that of the total loss of this once magnificent ship now lying on the bottom of the North Atlantic, more than 12,000 feet beneath the surface. There are also casualties: the fifteen crew members who, during the crash, happened to be asleep in their bunks in the forward part of the ship. However, 15 is not the same as 1500. Yet, in Court, The Board of Inquiry judges Murdoch’s decision to let the Titanic strike the iceberg head-on, utterly inappropriate. The fact that 15 people lost their lives, in particular, weights heavily. Everyone refuses to come to grips with the fact that it was simply impossible to avoid hitting that monstrous mass of ice in one way or another and that, by letting it scrape the Titanic’s under- side for 300 feet, the result would have been far worse. J. Bruce Ismay, White Star’s chairman and managing director, is once again the stubbornly selfish socialite who wants to get his way by setting a speed record in order to cross the Atlantic within a week. Commodore Edward Smith, known as the “Millionaire’s Captain”, destined to go down with that world famous goliath, in full uniform and medals on his chest, is again too easily becoming Ismay’s victim. The young Harold Lowe however, is given a new role; he and Ismay become rival suitors. Lowe, despite his insignificant ranking, ignores Ismay’s powerplay and has actually the audacity to court Rose de Bukater, Ismay’s fiancee. Rose gives you the impression that she really was one of the passengers on the Titanic at the time, although she is a mere fictitious character starring in James Cameron’s mega-production of the late nineties. The five hundred million dollar blockbuster attracted such a global audience that it actually proved to be a successful venture after all. In that film, Rose plays her part as a first- class passenger while providing us with a 2 Romeo and Juliet affair with her lover Leonardo di Caprio, a poor migrant travelling in third-class. In “Titanic 100 Years”, Rose is almost twenty years older. She got divorced in the meantime and is not only well-to-do but, more importantly, still very attractive. She hasn’t lost any of her adventurous behaviour and she remains sufficiently hedonistic to ignore anybody’s slanderous gossip or criticism, even that of Ismay who has already pictured her as his future wife. His ego begins to irritate her immensely not long after every single male crew member, with his already lusty eyes, had carried aboard her voluptuous body. The much younger Harold Lowe seems a much better proposition, at least during the short trip. Apart from the people already mentioned, two others featuring in Cameron’s creation play an important part as well, namely the die-hard Molly Brown and Ben Guggenheim, the American mining and smelting magnate and father of Peggy, owner of the famous museums. At one stage, Molly was, at a price, the lover of many a cowboy from the Wild West, but she ultimately became a merry, wealthy widow. Ben is not only accompanied by his mistress Leontine Aumont, but this time also by his wife whose family consists of bankers equally as wealthy as the Guggenheims. All of them are eccentrics and therefore absolutely indispensable characters in a stage setting of the movie “Titanic 100 Years” in which fact and fiction intertwine. Its premiere will be on April 14, 2012. We are convinced, beyond any doubt, that the “Titanic Fever” will be rekindled once more. Cameron’s film will again flood the cinemas and the television channels. With all the material available, he will hopefully become either the director, the producer or both. It would be ideal if he could get the necessary finance by, say 2007. Five years prior to that, the book on which the film will be based must at least be available in Dutch as well as in English, which means well before the premiere. In an endeavour to keep alive the memory of the then World’s greatest Ocean Liner, the ultimate publicity- stunt introducing the booklaunch will supplement the act of throwing flowers overboard as it was done before by one of the survivors at the spot where this International Monument went down. In this case, a huge wreath with “Titanic 1912-2012” will be placed on her abyssal grave. 3 Would there be a single Television Station in the World failing to include this unique moment in its news program? That would be hard to imagine. This stunt will cause “Titanic 100 Years” to be an instant sell-out while becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dr. Robert D. Ballard - geologist and leader of the American expedition that spotted the Titanic in 1985 - is willing to perform this historical and incredible feat for a mere US$10,000, which is, of course, only a tiny fraction of the total film budget to be spent. The idea of selecting Ballard to do the job is more befitting than may seem, because he was the one who initially supported artifact recovery, but later radically changed his mind, asserting that the Titanic should be left forever undisturbed as a memorial. So far, a tremendous amount of material has been taken away from the ship and her surroundings. This time however, the endearing idea will be to take something back to her for a change. Needless to say that a world-wide copyright has been obtained and that all rights have been reserved to protect this original way of advertising the advent of a book because, invariably, there will be human beings who are naturally inclined to think that they themselves were actually the ones coming up with the same idea, seconds after its introduction. Similar to Russian dolls, there are stories within the main story, because the novel is the result of a combination of numerous brainstorming sessions and an ongoing dialogue between two people who manipulate, by remote control as it were, the characters on the Titanic, much like the puppets in a marionette theatre. Since the American psychologist Caitlin Kennedy is not just the future wife but also the sexy girlfriend of high flying Dutchman Dirk Den Helder, it it inevitable that, apart from the main tragedy, you will witness happy endings and happy beginnings full of creative love affairs.