Cold Mountain (2003)
A Compelling Drama from Anthony Minghella
Virginia; July, 1864. Attempting to end the siege of Petersburg, Union soldiers lay explosives under Confederate lines. At dawn, the explosives are detonated. Even before the smoke clears, they march towards the Confederate lines—only to find that they have walked into the huge crater produced by the explosion. They are at the mercy of the Confederate soldiers.
In the Hellish battle that ensues, Inman (Jude Law), a Confederate soldier, is wounded trying to save the life of a friend from his hometown, Cold Mountain.
Three years earlier, the Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland) brings his daughter Ada (Nicole Kidman) from Charleston to the remote mountain community of Cold Mountain in western North Carolina. There, through the agency of Sally Swanger (Kathy Baker), the elegant, well-educated young woman meets a shy young man—W.P. Inman. “If it were enough just to stand without words,” he says. “It is,” Ada replies.
Ada and Inman have barely any time together before the Civil War erupts. Only at the last moment before he leaves do they kiss.
Director Anthony Minghella’s epic movie Cold Mountain is built on their stories—one ranging over time, the other over space. Ada’s story of changing fortunes covers a 3-year span; while Inman sickened by the killing, becomes a fugitive as he begins the long trek from Virginia back to Cold Mountain.
Minghella, who also wrote the script—based on Charles Frazier’s literary bestseller—is helped by a superb crew that includes Australian cinematographer John Seale, veteran costume designer Ann Roth, the great production designer Dante Ferretti, and master editor Walter Murch.
The movie has a splendid cast. Renée Zellweger vividly plays Ruby, the young woman who has learnt to survive alone who comes to Ada’s aid. Brendan Gleeson is Ruby’s fiddle-playing father, movingly trying to redeem himself. Ray Winstone is compelling as Teague, who was once the main landowner in Cold Mountain, and who manages to gain control of the Home Guard. His militia includes a Bosie, a young man itching to kill, played demonically by Charlie Hunnam.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman captures the torment and weakness of Veasey, a disgraced preacher that Inman meets on his odyssey. Giovanni Ribisi is a mess of jangly nerves as a treacherous young man who lives with a coven of voracious women. Eileen Atkins is full of calm practical wisdom as a healer who lives with a flock of goats, and there is Natalie Portman as Sara, a desperate young woman whose husband has been killed in the war, whose baby is sick, and whose vengeance is pitiless.
At the center of Cold Mountain, is the love between Ada and Inman. Nicole Kidman, who has acted superbly in one movie after another since Moulin Rouge!, subtly reveals how Ada is sustained by her belief in Inman. And Jude Law gives his best performance as a haunted man afraid he may have lost any goodness that was in him, but who, nevertheless, hopes against hope that the kernel of feeling he has for Ada will be his salvation.
—John Bloomfield (22 December, 2003)
Virginia; July, 1864. Attempting to end the siege of Petersburg, Union soldiers lay explosives under Confederate lines. At dawn, the explosives are detonated. Even before the smoke clears, they march towards the Confederate lines—only to find that they have walked into the huge crater produced by the explosion. They are at the mercy of the Confederate soldiers.
In the Hellish battle that ensues, Inman (Jude Law), a Confederate soldier, is wounded trying to save the life of a friend from his hometown, Cold Mountain.
Three years earlier, the Reverend Monroe (Donald Sutherland) brings his daughter Ada (Nicole Kidman) from Charleston to the remote mountain community of Cold Mountain in western North Carolina. There, through the agency of Sally Swanger (Kathy Baker), the elegant, well-educated young woman meets a shy young man—W.P. Inman. “If it were enough just to stand without words,” he says. “It is,” Ada replies.
Ada and Inman have barely any time together before the Civil War erupts. Only at the last moment before he leaves do they kiss.
Director Anthony Minghella’s epic movie Cold Mountain is built on their stories—one ranging over time, the other over space. Ada’s story of changing fortunes covers a 3-year span; while Inman sickened by the killing, becomes a fugitive as he begins the long trek from Virginia back to Cold Mountain.
Minghella, who also wrote the script—based on Charles Frazier’s literary bestseller—is helped by a superb crew that includes Australian cinematographer John Seale, veteran costume designer Ann Roth, the great production designer Dante Ferretti, and master editor Walter Murch.
The movie has a splendid cast. Renée Zellweger vividly plays Ruby, the young woman who has learnt to survive alone who comes to Ada’s aid. Brendan Gleeson is Ruby’s fiddle-playing father, movingly trying to redeem himself. Ray Winstone is compelling as Teague, who was once the main landowner in Cold Mountain, and who manages to gain control of the Home Guard. His militia includes a Bosie, a young man itching to kill, played demonically by Charlie Hunnam.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman captures the torment and weakness of Veasey, a disgraced preacher that Inman meets on his odyssey. Giovanni Ribisi is a mess of jangly nerves as a treacherous young man who lives with a coven of voracious women. Eileen Atkins is full of calm practical wisdom as a healer who lives with a flock of goats, and there is Natalie Portman as Sara, a desperate young woman whose husband has been killed in the war, whose baby is sick, and whose vengeance is pitiless.
At the center of Cold Mountain, is the love between Ada and Inman. Nicole Kidman, who has acted superbly in one movie after another since Moulin Rouge!, subtly reveals how Ada is sustained by her belief in Inman. And Jude Law gives his best performance as a haunted man afraid he may have lost any goodness that was in him, but who, nevertheless, hopes against hope that the kernel of feeling he has for Ada will be his salvation.
—John Bloomfield (22 December, 2003)
posted by John Bloomfield at 6:56 PM
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