Cold Mountain

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"The English Patient" was a sublime and complex romantic melodrama with the weight of a rich tragedy.  "The Talented Mr. Ripley" was an acid-tinged, deliciously tricky parable about the phantom dark side of an undeveloped identity. And "Cold Mountain," for all its majesty, beauty and at times, awe, is an impossible story of American innocence and young love flushed out prematurely, and played out on a grand scale, with larger implications about the notion of men at war and the toll on those left behind.  </div> <bR> <div> The film opens on a note of melancholy.  Inman (excellent Jude Law), a Civil War confederate soldier, pines on the battle lines for his lost love back home in Cold Mountain, North Carolina.   As the film moves back and forth through his memories and its opening passages, we learn of his chaste love for Ada (Kidman), a well-to-do minister's (Donald Sutherland) daughter home on the range.  Before they can get anything much started, he's off to war.   Ada, in turn, is ravaged by the war in her own way, losing her father and ending up nearly destitute and without means.  After a bloody battle, Inman is badly wounded and deserts the war to make the dangerous trek home. Meanwhile, Ada, holding out hope for his return, enlists the tough-talking, lower caste Ruby (Renee Zellweger) to help her get back on her feet again and rebuild her father's farm.  What she experiences through this young woman is something of a rebirth, and turns out to be as much a catalyst to her as her long-suffering romantic notions.   </div> <bR> <div> In most regards, "Cold Mountain" is a well written, handsomely made romantic period piece, with three effective star turns and a fine sense of period, scale and intimacy.  The period, the American south during the Civil War, is finely rendered (courtesy of staggering Romanian-shot locations) with soaring vistas and natural beauty.  </div> <bR> <div> The cinematography, by John Seale, captures the rural Romanian countryside exquisitely with equal attention to green-treed mountains, snow-covered forests and the haunting, blood red mud of a pre-dawn battlefield.  It's an eyeful, to be sure, but appropriately so.  Minghella is careful not to let his ravishing vistas outsize his intimate plot, which is simple in both scope and execution.  </div> <bR> <div> Then there are the performances.  Kidman, gorgeous with a blonde mane and rosy cheeks, continues to impress with what's probably the best combination of beauty and talent in the movies today.  Law is appealingly sensitive, and Zellweger, who seems to effortlessly move back and forth between leading lady and character actress, winds us up with her humor then breaks our hearts.  The excellent supporting cast includes memorable turns from Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Kathy Baker, Melora Walters, Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Donald Sutherland and rocker Jack White.   </div> <bR> <div> The theatrical-sounding accents are a bit spotty at times, with Kidman sounding a little breathy to my ear, a bit on the Scarlett O' Hara side, and Zellweger running roughshod over hers with an almost comically exaggerated plain speak southern drawl that sounds manufactured throughout.  These are minor quibbles, however, and both actresses do fine emotional work together.  Zellweger, in particular, shows spunk and heart beneath her gruff exterior in some tough late scenes.  </div> <bR> <div> Ruby and Ada form the film's most interesting relationship, and though they're from different classes, there's a believable chemistry that develops between the two as Ruby teaches Ada to reconnect with the land and reground herself in the world. When Zellweger appears onscreen a third of the way through the picture, there's a definite energy lift that comes with her.  </div> <bR> <div> Minghella specializes in artistic and literate screen adaptations of beloved books.  In the past he's proven adept at handling glossy romantic drama and high suspense in exotic locales, rich in surface beauty and dangerously seductive underneath, with deception and tragedy in equal measures.   </div> <bR> <div> <B>Cold Mountain</B>, by comparison, is less serpentine in plot and more reductive and simple in its approach to love and war, and though it deals specifically with themes of love and loss, it's a largely pessimistic and unsentimental picture at its core, and ends on a note of optimism colored by loss.  </div> <bR> <div> It's not all that deep, profound or rich.  But the film is effective and moving in its simplicity.  The characters are not terribly complex, but their prevailing directness is quite appropriate for this story and feels pointed rather than incomplete.   </div> <bR> <div> Highly recommended.  </div> <div>    </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>lee@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>