Cold Mountain opens like an epic should, big and dramatic. Its the closing overs of the American Civil War, the south have all but lost and a young soldier called Inman is just one of many Confederates awaiting an attack by their Northern adversaries. The fight is brutal and realistic, portraying the dark conditions of hand to hand combat rather than the Hollywood glorification that are usually foisted upon the audience. Wounded but not killed in the battle our young hero finds himself in a field hospital thinking about a time three years previous and a life that now seems an age away.
The film then backtracks to that time and we are introduced to the other principle character, the love interest in the story, Ada Monroe. New to the community of Cold Mountain from the more urbanite Charleston, a spark develops between the quite but decent Inman and the new rose. In the fashion of the time their courtship is slow, proper, well mannered and discrete. But before the two have chance to share more than one kiss, Inman is sent off to the war. The film then follows the two halves of the story. Ada circumstances change for the worse and she is left to run a farm single handed and also must fend of Teague, a local self appointed sheriff of the community who has designs on her property. With the help of a practical and loud farm girl Ruby, Ada manages to survive the hardships and turn the farm around. Inman at this time has received only one of the many letters Ada has sent him imploring him to come home, and so he begins a thousand mile trek as a deserter to the woman that he left behind. The film then follows the trials and tribulations of the both the would be lovers as their paths draw closer.
What is unusual about the relationship between Inman and Ada Monroe is that they hardly know each other, but from the intense glances and smouldering undercurrents created between the two actors, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, the feeling that they are destined for each other becomes apparent. In a very clever less is more portrayal, the actual verbal exchanges between them become of a secondary nature along side the charged atmosphere they seem to create. Alongside the obvious romance underlying the story, the film examines a number of different concepts, not least of which is the role of women in a war. Not only are they equal to the man who have left to fight, they are often one of the reasons for fighting and in this case the reason to stop fighting. The two principle women show the opposite extremes of the women of the time, Kidmans Ada Monroe, the socialite contrasts with the excellent Renee Zellweger as Ruby, the hard working, practical and outspoken farm girl. Also in contrast are the women’s relation ships with their fathers, the Reverend Monroe being played ably by Donald Sutherland. Other actors of note are Ray Winstone who plays a small but menacing role as Ada’s nemesis, Teague and Natalie Portman as the fragile Sara, a widowed young mother whose role reinforces the tragedy of war and how the harrowing events can give rise to undreamed of responses. One of the question that the film threw at me, though not intentional covered by the events, is that if people volunteer to fight a war, can they then be considered deserters if they decide to leave the fight?
Although the war is really just a backdrop for the more human interactions one enduring image for me was the site of a Native American in Confederate uniform fighting hand to hand with a black Federal Infantryman. The two races who were to initially gain little from the outcome of the war. The film has a dark overtone but stops short of revelling in its tragedy. Although the events are of a desperate nature, it must be remembered that the main drive of the film is powered by the very human reasons of desire and longing for a loved one. It is a powerful story with a strong cast, all of which turn in at least a good performance and some rightly worthy of the Oscar nominations, especially Zellweger who actually received hers.
Romance without the sugar and action without the testosterone makes this a movie that should appeal to everyone.