Cold Mountain (2003)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Writers (WGA):

Charles Frazier (book)
Anthony Minghella (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Find your way home

Plot:

In the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier (Law) embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart (Kidman). Based on the novel by Charles Frazier.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Civil War | North Carolina | American Civil War | Farm

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 13 wins & 61 nominations

Cast

Jude Law	...	Inman
Nicole Kidman	...	Ada Monroe
Renée Zellweger	...	Ruby Thewes
Eileen Atkins	...	Maddy
Brendan Gleeson	...	Stobrod Thewes
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Reverend Veasey
Natalie Portman	...	Sara
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Junior
Donald Sutherland	...	Reverend Monroe
Ray Winstone	...	Teague
Kathy Baker	...	Sally Swanger
James Gammon	...	Esco Swanger
Charlie Hunnam	...	Bosie
Jack White	...	Georgia
Ethan Suplee	...	Pangle

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

154 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #40383) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Australia:M (TV rating) | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Carpathian Mountains, Romania

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

The film has a shooting ratio of 60:1, which means that for every one minute that appears on screen, there were 60 minutes of footage.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Inman is walking by the lake, you can see his tracks from previous takes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ada: [voiceover] Dear Mr. Inman, I began by counting the days, then the months. I don't count on anything anymore except the hope that you will return, and the silent fear that in the years since we saw each other, this war, this awful war, will have changed us both beyond all reckoning.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Goedemorgen Nederland: (2004-02-19)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

You Will Be My Ain True Love

Gone With the Wind Redux

"Cold Mountain" is a grand old-style, satisfyingly catch-you-up-in-the-sweep-of-emotions/resistance-is-futile Hollywood epic, whose primary difference from "Gone With the Wind" is that the actresses get to flash some tasteful T & A and use a four-letter word more vulgar than "damn" about manure.

Perforce it can only be a hurried "scenes from" the engrossing novel which puts Penelope and Odysseus amidst the Civil War where author Charles Frazier added irony to Homer as Ada/Penelope first has to (metaphorically) learn to weave as she keeps suitors and other dangers at bay and Inman/Odysseus is not a hero but barely survives as a deserter to face parallel trials on the way home.

The book at least includes a map so readers can trace Inman's lengthy Odyssey, but the movie unfortunately opts out of that 1940's-style even as it follows other conventions of the genre, particularly as seen through John Seale's beautiful cinematography from the fog of war to the fog of snow.

While producers Miramax are technically not a major studio, their casting is part of what puts this in the grand Hollywood tradition.

Even under dirt and mussed hair, Nicole Kidman and Jude Law are two of the mostly stunningly beautiful human beings on the planet --and it's a pretty safe bet that they'll be entered in MTV's "Best Film Kiss of 2003"--yet they almost don't stand out amidst an attractive cameo cast with the likes of Natalie Portman, Cillian Murphy, Giovanni Ribisi, Charlie Hunnam, with Ray Winstone as the villain, etc. It was almost startling to see Eileen Atkins's mountain woman as the first non-pretty or handsome character actor. Renée Zellweger gets to chew the scenery as an over-the-top Ma Kettle, but her comic relief is enjoyable.

While the complex production design, from battles to farms to log cabins, creates whole environments, "Ada"'s wardrobes must be pretty huge to fit all those beautiful dresses; it was only in the last days of poverty of the war that she actually had to repeat wearing one.

A good deal of the credit for the irresistibility of the movie is the music, especially T. Bone Burnett's Americana and Jack White's Americana-sounding selections, and I would have preferred even more of those and a bit less of Gabriel Yared's score. Allison Krauss's singing is especially evocative in enveloping the audience in the mood and themes, in "The Scarlet Tide" and closing with Sting's "You Will Be My Ain True Love", which is a shoo-in for an Oscar nom.

There was a credited dialect coach, but I found the Southern accents bland. And none of the quibbles really matter.