Cold Mountain [Blu-ray]

This is a comparative critique of Charles Frazier's novel Cold Mountain and the film of the same name. I saw the film when it was first released and it was a gem of a movie. Recently I read Charles Frazier's novel and found the book to be significantly different from the film.The basic outline of Frazier's story forms the core of the movie but the love story between Ada Monroe and Inman is very different in the novel. The magnetic attraction between the two drives the movie and provides the emotional tension that keeps the viewer alert, almost like a mystery plot. Will the two survive to meet and live happily ever after? Charles Frazier's novel does not use that tension to drive the story.The first scene in the book is set in the Petersburg hospital and Inman's motivation to desert his regiment after years of loyal service is his disillusionment with the war. Ada Monroe does not enter his thoughts by name until he is well on his way home. The reader puts the two together when the author makes Ada the subject of the next chapter but she, too, is not consumed with longing for Inman. Rather, Ada is occupied with growing up and surviving after her father passes away. When Ruby Thewes enters her life midway through the chapter Ada's attention centers around her relationship with the capable and earthy young woman.Well past halfway into the novel Inman finally reveals that when (and if) he meets Ada Monroe he will declare his intentions right away and, if he is rebuffed, he will turn back around and keep walking. For her part, Ada only thinks of Inman during quiet moments of solitude and is not sure he is still alive. Whether or not they will live happily ever after - or even meet again - is only inferred by the structure of the novel. Even if I hadn't seen the movie first I would have expected that conclusion but it is not uppermost in the minds of the characters.Both the book and the movie, then, are beautiful depictions of the same story as if you had heard alternate versions of a story about a neighborhood couple from two trusted friends. The various vignettes that the film's fans know well are mostly all different from the book. The various Home Guards are not half the antagonists in the book as they are in the movie and Captain Teague has no back story, no motivation, in the novel.Inman, Ada, Ruby, Stobrod and Reverend Monroe are all finely drawn characters and everybody else, including even Esco and Sally Swanger, are background figures. Inman's journey is not so much Homer's Odyssey in the book. Anthony Minghella used the Odyssey as a concept for the film before he wrote the screenplay, as he relates in the Extra Feature interview. The human interactions of the vignettes provide the constant motion that contemporary filmgoers expect but in the novel the geography, the weather, the wildlife, the food and Inman's solitude are all virtual characters in a way that would have ground the film to a halt.The movie has all that exquisite cinematography and an excellent soundtrack written by Gabriel Yared. The period music is well researched under the experienced guidance of T-Bone Burnett. The extended version DVD includes the feature, "The Music of Cold Mountain", which I highly recommend. One surprise for me was the writer of the song, "My Ain True Love" - Sting. The mysticism of Ada's vision from Sally's well is an invention of screenwriter Anthony Minghella. That minor sub-plot serves to create a subtle tension and a gentle resolution at film's end but Charles Frazier did not intend Ada's vision in the well to be a plot device.To me, Jude Law fit Charles Frazier's portrait of Inman very nicely and Renée Zellweger was a perfect Ruby Thewes. Every other face fit nicely into Frazier's characters except Nicole Kidman. She was fine in the movie but I do not think Kidman would have been Frazier's pick had he been given the choice, not the way he drew Ada Monroe in the novel. Read the book and see if I'm right. Who would you have rather seen as Ada Monroe?*Update for Civil War buffs:Inman was probably a member of the 49th North Carolina Infantry. Charles Frazier does not identify Inman's regiment in the novel but the 49th was everywhere Inman was, including the first regiment north of the South Carolina brigade that was the victim of the Petersburg Mine explosion. They were also in the thick of the fighting at the Battle of Weldon Railroad later where Inman received his neck wound in the book, as opposed to the movie where he was wounded in a night skirmish a few days after the Battle of the Crater.Then there is a problematic scene in the movie after Inman deserts. He is seen walking on a beach with his right shoulder towards the water - walking north, but that's not the real error. For a Confederate deserter to leave Petersburg from the hospital he would have had to go west toward the Danville Road then turn south. Access to the Virginia coastline was controlled by Yankee troops in 1864. In the book Frazier never traces Inman's route on a map but he never wrote a scene involving an ocean. An appendix in the novel mentions the reference book North Carolina Troops in the Civil War as well as Charles Frazier's extensive hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia and North Carolina so any historical inconsistencies are a fault of the film, not the novel.Is the story an anti-war parable? I do not think the novel is anti-war so much as it is historically accurate. After Sherman captured Atlanta and siege warfare settled on the Army of Northern Virginia the fate of the south was sealed. Many North Carolina soldiers deserted in the winter of 1864-65 so Inman's decision would not have been unique. This is just the first fictional story to give voice to those deserters as opposed to the ill-fated men who fought on to Appomattox and had their stories pass into legend. And Inman was still a formidable warrior on his journey, several times engaging adversaries that outnumbered and outgunned him but still he came away victorious. Frazier's story and Minghella's film tell a mostly overlooked tale about the people of a conquered nation and how they dealt with the lives they were forced to live. That is not anti-war, just reality as it was in 1864.

This does justice to the book and is well acted and engaging. A refreshing take on the ravages of war on the home front, but also on the resiliency of people and the healing power of love.

This movie maintained our interest throughout : it's a good movie. The dvd was good, too.

This movie is another sweeping saga of love, loss, and light in the hemorrhage of the Civil War era. If you are a fan of this type of movies, then this is definitely for you. The cast is particularly well thought out while it continually adds more actors as the movie plays through. Including the appearances of; Renee Zellweger (Oscar winner), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Kathy Baker, Natalie Portman, Jena Malone, Giovanni Ribisi, Jack White (in a particularly great acting and musical performance), and so many others that I couldn't even make room to mention them all.This picture brings us to Cold Mountain, North Carolina, named after the Indians who lived there first. It is a community in itself full of friendly southern people with a colloquialism all their own. Heavy on regional folklore and music, the town is in need of a Pastor. Enter Donald Sutherland and his devoted daughter Ada (Nicole Kidman) who quickly meet the town's people through Sally (Kathy Baker). This meeting is on the roadside while coming into town from Charleston. Ada has the opportunity to meet Inman (Jude Law) who is helping to build the new church for the town. All eyes are riveted on shy and demure Ada, as she appears as a porcelain doll to them.Inman, a man of 'few words' although with an abounding heart, is captivated by Ada as she is with him. They meet and start a relationship that really only consists of a few meetings. They don't share much in communication through spoken words but are able to become deeply and strongly in love with each other. As the rumors of civil war are spreading through Cold Mountain, the men and boys are readying themselves to "go shoot themselves some Yankees". This is very distressing to the Pastor and especially to Ada as she knows that her beloved will leave her for war...But what of his return?The call is brought out while in church one Sunday morning and all men are excited as they run out, except for Inman who is trepidatious about Ada's feelings. He reassures her and goes to his rooming house to put on his uniform while Ada brings him a book to take along. The two have exchanged their tintypes and share their first kiss while all of his fellow soldiers are shouting all around him to hurry up and "kiss her for me". With all the romance of the time, Inman goes off to war with a longing look on Ada's face which beckons him to 'Come Back To Me'...There is much content involved in this movie and so many things that happen in the duration of the war years. The health of Ada's adoring father is threatening and they have just had their "last cut of meat". Ada has been raised by him to support church life and within the finery of the day. Being a typical southern belle, she becomes isolated after letting the "slaves" have their freedom and refuses to hold them there. Ada is starving and in dire need of help to run the farm on her own. She has left longing for Inman through the upcoming years never knowing if he will return, managing a farm and newly obtained life that she is ill-prepared for. Ada is alone as the beckoning begins ..."Come back to me" ..."Come back to me" ...

I watch this movie about 2-3 a year because I love it that much from beginning to end. Simply a perfect movie.

For me to watch

I'd watch this movie over and over just for Renee Zellweger. I think this movie is like Devil Wears Prada and Emily Blount. The movie is fantastic in this one way and good enough everywhere else. If you want the story the book is better. Charles Frazier has a pleasant style. Read the book first. I re-read the book after seeing the movie and other than Ruby it was better the other way around. But man, that Renee Zellweger. Ruby with the eyes...that sparkle.

Entertainment purposes only.

Always loved this movie but had never owed a copy, then I thought its christmas so I purchased this used copy. Delivery time was great not due to be delivered untill after the new year jt came two days before .The cast is full of big names. Donald Sutherland, Ray Winston with small parts of Natalie Portman and Phillip Seymor Hoffman and Rene Zeiiwigar.Set during the cival war this is a must see movie for any film fan, I would definitely recommend it.

This film has a multitude of star names and is IMHO a very worthwhile film to watch. The storyline is simple enough and well enough explained on here, but the film is of course very historic too in American history.The opening scenes are from the Civil War. It’s the last year of the war and we’re at the ‘Siege of Petersburg’ (Virginia) – a siege that lasted 9 months and cost 70,000 lives. A few months later the war was over.The war scenes are just brilliant and very much the highlight of the film for me – and yes, they really did tunnel beneath the enemy and attempt to blow them up! Cold Mountain is in North Carolina, one of the eleven states that broke away from the Union and formed their own Confederacy. A lot of the scenes were also shot in Romania!The film includes a love interest, several nasty characters and some odd balls as well. So, it’s always interesting and there’s plenty going on to keep you watching throughout the two and a half hours. Definitely one worth a viewing I’d say.

Like all blu-rays when compared to watching the DVD version or an old video one watching this film is a clearer, more detailed experience and in many cases it's like looking at the film for the first time as the film stock used to transfer to Blu-Ray is usually "worked on" first to get as good a copy as possible.My taste in films may not be the same as yours so if you want to know about this film I suggest that you use the internet to find 2 or 3 reviews by experienced film reviewers and make your judgment whether or not to buy this film. If you want details of the quality of the blu-ray aswell as a review I suggest [...]I have watched over 600 films in my life and have a collection of about 250 Blu-Ray's and I rate this one 8/10.

A very enjoyable film although I found it strange seeing Ray Winstone and Jack White in their respective roles although they seem to get away with it. The main characters are played superbly and Renee Zellweger is brilliant as usual. The more I see of her the more I am impressed by her range of acting. She really is a superstar.

Well this is just a really good film and the first time I have seen it. I love the way the characters' personalities changed during the course of the story. Loved all the actors...think this is definitely one of Jude Law's best performances. Renee Zellweger, well she is just awesome! Also loved Nicole Kidman's character. Some really fine acting in this epic story. I didn't realise that it was from 2004 but absolutely worth watching again.