What's the formula of a good story? Should it be tight, packed, loaded with information or breathing, pausing, flowing? A story can be told through several mediums and cinema is to date considered the most powerful of those; of course, owing to the visual rendition. What else could be the reason that whenever we think of the historic tragedy of a sinking Titanic; it's Rose and Jack who come to our mind, followed by a giant, being swallowed by the waters.
Obviously, Titanic - the film was a powerful, well-screened story, yet, it was heavily romanticized—remember, breathing, flowing version! But the truth isn't always that is told but also that which is buried deep, rescued, and rediscovered lifetimes later.
While myths and mysteries have been debunked about the accident on TV programs and in news articles, the big screen is back with a huge find about the Titanic, almost 24 years later.
A new documentary released worldwide in April this year, tells the story of six Chinese survivors on the iconic Titanic. Titled The Six, it has created quite a ripple amongst cinephiles. More so because it has been brought to the world, yet again by James Cameron but this time only as a producer. Written and directed by Arthur Jones, the documentary brings to light worldly dilemmas of racism and anti-immigration.
An AFP report released on the documentary states, "For the Briton and lead researcher Steven Schwankert, The Six gives a voice, life, and faces to a small band of Chinese men who were among about 700 people to survive the Titanic's sinking in 1912."
"The Six sees Schwankert and his fellow researchers pore over archives and meet descendants across continents as they try to piece together what happened to the men after surviving the most famous sinking of all time," reported AFP adding, "Eight Chinese were aboard the fateful vessel, in third class, when it sank after hitting an iceberg. Six, most of them sailors but not working on the Titanic, made it out alive on life rafts."
The report that features writer and director Arthur Jones conversation with AFP reporter also highlights the fact that Cameron was fully supportive of this project and also gave the team access to a cut scene from the original award-winning film—an Asian-looking man hanging on for life on a piece of wood plucked from the freezing water, perhaps becoming the last person to be saved.
Synopsis of The Six
When RMS Titanic sank on a cold night in 1912, barely 700 people escaped with their lives. Among them were six Chinese men. Arriving in New York with the other survivors, the six were met not with compassion, but suspicion and slander. Less than 24 hours later, they were expelled from the country, soon forgotten, and lost beneath the waves of time. What became of them? The answer is the story of so many like them, who travel thousands of miles from their homes in search of better lives, only to be met by hostility, hysteria, and walls at the border. The Six is an extraordinary story of survival and dignity in the face of racism and anti-immigrant policy that still reverberates today.
