 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Cold Mountain
Directed by Anthony Minghella
 Forget Tom, this one's a keeper...
Lets get one thing straight; there was nothing civil about the American civil war. And thanks to the genius of cinematographer John Seale and director Anthony Minghella (that's right, the guy who directed that other epic love story, The English Patient), we get a damn good insight into the blood, mud, guts and general horror of life and death on the battlefield.
Not that Cold Mountain focuses solely on the war itself. It's more concerned with the effect the war has on the individual and in particular a young man call P.W. Inman (Jude Law) and the woman who loves him, Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman).
Inman is definitely your strong, silent type, (emphasis on "silent") but this hasn't stopped Ada, the beautiful daughter of a preacher man, (Donald Sutherland) from falling for him big time.
Unfortunately for our two lovebirds it's the early Eighteen Sixties and the Confederate States of America have declared war on the anti-slavery Union.
Coming from the town of Cold Mountain, North Carolina, Inman enlists to fight for the South and as he prepares to leave he and Ada exchange their first kiss, (and believe me, it's a doozy!). She declares she'll wait for him but neither of them has any inkling of the horrific struggle of survival they both will face in the coming years... I don't know about you but I wasn't a huge fan of the much-acclaimed The English Patient. Like Elaine from Seinfeld I felt like shouting at the screen: "Just hurry up and die, why don't you!" It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached Cold Mountain, director Anthony Minghell's latest project. Had he managed to turn the award winning novel by Charles Frazier into some arty-farty drawn out epic that would have me dozing off before you could say "pass me a mint julip please, Elly-may!" Well, good gracious me, I was very pleasantly surprised. One thing you could not call Cold Mountain is boring.
From the gut wrenching battle scenes, to each harrowing encounter Inman experiences as he attempts to return home and Ada's own horrific taste of a world gone absolutely crazy, this is edge-of-your-seat stuff! (But be warned! Some scenes are quite upsetting.) Nicole's performance is already attracting Oscar buzz and her luminescent beauty lights up the screen, but in my opinion it's Renee Zellweger as the down to earth, no-nonsense Ruby who deserves an Oscar nomination.
Once again she proves what a versatile, talented actress she is. The two are in good company.
Amongst the plethora of character actors all giving outstanding performances are Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Ray Winstone, Brendan Gleeson, Kathy Baker, Natalie Portman... the list goes on. Beautifully photographed, with an engrossing plot, a moving love story and a top-notch cast, Cold Mountain may not be the most cheerful of movies but it's a must see for those who appreciate quality filmmaking.
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