UNTOLD HORROR
Movie tells story of Titanic disaster inquiry
JAMES Cameron’s movie blockbuster Titanic used a blossoming romance to tell the tale of the sinking of the famous ship.
On the anniversary of the disaster a new drama tells the story of an investigation in the aftermath of the best-know maritime disaster in history.
Unsinkable: Titanic Untold follow the riveting journey of Senator William Alden Smith and undercover journalist Alaine Ricard.
The real life tragedy occurred on the night of April 15, 1912. The luxury passenger liner Titanic, built in Belfast, was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
Deemed unsinkable due to its double bottomed hull and 16 watertight compartments, the ship crashed into an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The initial report stated there were 710 survivors.
More than 1,500 drowned, most of them passengers in steerage.
Over 40 feature films and documentaries have captured the disaster from A Night to Remember to The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
DISASTER
The latest movie transports audiences back to the tumultuous time 112 years ago for a courtroom drama meets disaster movie.
Coleraine-born actress Jayne Wisener, 36, plays Maggie Malloy, assistant to the senator.
She said: “I’m very proud to be a part of it. The Titanic was built in Belfast.”
The drama highlights the real life events of the traumatic time where it took two hours and 40 minutes for the Titanic to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Notable names such as John Jacob Astor IV, the richest man in the world at the time died aboard the ship.
He built landmark New York hotels the Astoria and St Regis. His wife who was pregnant survived.
Isidor and Ida Straus were also casualties too. Bavarian-born Isidor along with brother Nathan owned Macy’s department store.
Ida refused to board Lifeboat Eight, to join the other rescued women and children.
In Cameron’s Titanic, the short scene where an older couple are seen holding hands in bed while their room begins to flood is an homage to the couple.
Refusing the lifeboat to stay
with her husband, Ida was heard proclaiming: “Where you go, I go.” The trauma felt by the victims and families and the international relations concerning the USA and Britain is evoked in the film. Jayne said: “There was a lack of closure. People are affected by humanity, the loss of so many human lives. “From all walks of life, steerage passengers, the crew members, first class passengers, this tragedy and the trauma didn’t discriminate.”
After the sinking of the Titanic, William Alden Smith chaired Senate hearings into the disaster.
His report led to major reforms in maritime safety.
Jayne added: “Prior to auditioning, I didn’t know that there was an inquiry in the United States.
“There was also one in London. This did bring about a change in maritime law and safety for lifeboats.”
The former Rose of Antrim, who shot to fame alongside Johnny Depp in hit Sweeney Todd, admitted she found some elements of filming challenging.
She added: “The hardest part was I was eight months pregnant when I was filming, with my first son Michael.
“A few years later after a hiatus I went back to complete a few things, pregnant with Ethan. There was no prosthetic bump needed. I was exhausted but treated like royalty. My babies are both unsinkable.”
Unsinkable: Titanic Untold available to watch in selected Cineworld and Vue cinemas nationwide from April 12 and on Appletv+ and Amazon Prime from May.
I was eight months pregnant when I was filming