Inman, a confederate soldier in the American Civil War (Jude Law,
Road to Perdition,
Enemy at the Gates) decides to desert and return to home
to Ada, the beautiful southern belle he left behind (Nicole
Kidman,
The Stepford Wives,
Dogville). While Inman tries to avoid being shot by
soldiers from both sides, Ada
must face her own difficulties when she finds herself needing to
run her farm by herself. Ruby (Renée Zellweger,
Chicago) finds her way to assist the agriculturally
hapless Ada, and the two become friends. Based on the novel of the
same name by Charles Frazier.
CRITIQUE
Cold Mountain
is a grand story of a Confederate deserter’s trip home when he
decides that the war isn’t as important to him as the woman he
left behind. Though this may sound like a sweet story of love at
its bravest, it’s hard to say this is a love story at all. Inman
and Ada have no real relationship to speak of, only some fantasies
of what might be if they’re ever to be reunited. This thinness in
the basic plot outline makes it a bit difficult to sit
through—with a 154-minute run time, I was hoping for the
characters to be more engaging.
The conventional film critic wisdom appears to be that whenever a film
is at least two and a half hours long and has battle scenes, it’s an
“epic.” The truth is the film is just long, and though its story spans
several years, the passage of time isn’t as well articulated as is
intended.
There is commentary in the extras to the effect of comparing
Cold Mountain’s
story to that of "The Odyssey," but the comparison only serves to
illuminate more of its shortcomings. Odysseus didn’t pick up and leave
before the Trojan War was over, and he left a great deal behind to go
to war in the first place. We therefore feel for him as he faces each
trial in the years he spends attempting to return home to Ithaca, and
his wife and son.
However, we get no background on Inman, no sense of what drove him to
war in the first place. He might as well have made his home anywhere
else in the South, or even the North but for his accent. Worse, Inman
and Ada hardly know each other at all, and the trials he faces in his
own odyssey are that much less compelling. You’re left rooting for a
southern Everyman to be reunited with the equivalent of a high school
sweetheart.
Intending to be serious, one character on Inman’s journey dispenses
some of the most hilarious country wisdom ever. In describing the
delivery of a seed that grows into a tree, she waxes philosophical by
saying, "Bird’s got a job, shit’s got a job, seed’s got a job." We
don’t ever find out much about Inman’s background, but we do find out
by the end which one of these "jobs" he has.
Despite its flaws, Jude Law is outstanding as the war-weary Inman, and
the opening battle scene truly does justice to the brutality of the
conflict. Even more so,
Cold Mountain’s
depiction of the Confederate Home Guard as becoming even more
unbearable than rule by the Union adds to the alienation felt by many
of the South’s soldiers. For Civil War buffs, the representation of
this period may be enough for a viewing.
THE VIDEO
Buena Vista Home Entertainmentpresents
Cold Mountain in
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and I couldn’t find anything wrong
with it. Visually, this is the best transfer onto a DVD I’ve ever
seen. Colors, sharpness, grain, all are excellent.
THE AUDIO
Buena Vista Home Entertainmentpresents Cold Mountain
in 5.1 Dolby Surround with options for a French language track
and French and Spanish subtitles. \The sound is clear enough,
but in a few places the dialog is hard to understand. When Ruby
happens upon Stobrod Thewes (Brendan Gleeson,
Troy,
28 Days Later), I had to turn the subtitles on.
THE EXTRAS
The package reviewed is the 2-DVD Collector’s edition. The first
disc contains the film and the audio commentary by director
Anthony Minghella and Editor Walter Murch. Minghella has a
lot to say, and Murch also let’s us know a few interesting
facts. One of the characters in the beginning (won’t say who)
gets a little screen time, but we don’t see much interaction
between him and Inman, and the commentary explains why.
The second disc has extras aplenty. The longest is a live presentation
of The Words and Music of Cold Mountain
(90 minutes), including a performance by actor/musician Jack White.
Climbing Cold Mountain (73 minutes) is listed as a documentary but
is more accurately described as a “making of” piece, overly long but
detailing all phases of making the film. A Journey to
Cold Mountain
(29 minutes) is a bit more promotional, but also more entertaining. The Sacred Harp History is a quick piece (4 minutes) about
the background of some of the music in the film from a 19th
century songbook.
The Storyboard Comparison and especially the eleven
deleted scenes might also be of interest. Several of the scenes
definitely would have added to the film, but it’s not hard to see how
they would have been cut in such a long film.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A slightly different take on a war that has almost exclusively been
represented by films focusing on its battle, Cold
Mountain
may be of interest to Civil War buffs and fans of romance stories.
Unfortunately, the plot, the characters, and the length all leave
something to be desired. This is not, as many critics have bleated,
one of the best films of 2003.
