Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella, 2003)
Imdb
Date Watched: 09/04/2021
Rewatch: Yes.
"
Every piece of this is man's bulls***. They call this war "a cloud over the land" but they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say "S***, it's rainin'!""
This is another movie that I initially saw because my mom wanted to see it and I'm not one to turn down a free trip to the movie theater. However, the thought of sitting through a 2.5 hour long American Civil War romance starring a Brit and an Aussie didn't exactly appeal to me at the time. This was not at all helped by the fact that I really don't like that particular Brit.
My reservations were unfounded. While the film is not without its sap,
Cold Mountain is a stunning look at the suffering inflicted when a country divides and turns on itself. And while it doesn't shy away from showing the horrors of battle, it's the trauma and hardship endured by the average citizen that is its focus. While soldiers fight and die in the muck and the gore, those left at home face food shortages, financial ruin, the deaths of loved ones, and the constant threat from the Home Guard.
Cold Mountain is a tragic tale that is framed by gorgeous landscapes, beautiful cinematography, and a wonderful score. It is a film that is breathtaking, heartbreaking. It depicts both the best and worst of humanity and it does so through the excellent and memorable performances from a slew of familiar faces in the supporting cast including Renée Zellweger (in an Oscar-winning role), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Portman, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, Giovanni Ribisi, Jack White, Kathy Baker, James Gammon, and Jenna Malone. As to those leads? I still don't like Jude Law but I'd be lying if I said that he and Nicole Kidman didn't pull their weight. Though they were not the standouts of the cast, I thought they were both wonderful as two awkward people who fall in love through a few fleeting moments and then cling to the idea of each other and the hope of meeting again as their reason to go on when all else is lost and they're surrounded by misery.
But the film is not without hope or without humor. It offers both in spades and is as entertaining as it is devastating. Today was the first time in awhile that I'd seen this. I've always known that I've loved it, but I'd allowed myself to forget just
how much I love it. With so few slots available on my ballot and so many movies that I love as much or more, it could end up being an extremely painful cut come the deadline, but right now it's a very serious contender.