19.2.06
Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain – 2003
I gotta stop watching depressing films. This one is about another area of beautiful human history – man killing man, cruelty and such. Believe me, this film is full of death. It is based during the American Civil War: for those who know little of American history, and please note how very shite it is to watch a historical film without even a tiny bit of knowledge, it was between the Unionists (The Union/USA lead by Lincoln) and the Confederates (the Southern states who enjoyed Slave Power and its large cotton production; and feared the modernisation taking place in the Northern states) . The causes of the War are still debated, so I won't go into too much detail (see Wikipedia if you must).
Anyway, Jude Law plays Inman a quiet, wounded confederate deserter, who grows tired of War. The pinnacle of this fatigue is brilliantly shown on Inman's face in the latter part of the film when Sara (a small part taken by Natalie Portman) shoots dead a good soldier. I like the versatile Jude; he has some negative attention from the media but I don't care about that shit and don't let it get in the way of a mighty fine performance. Also many people get pissed off with Cruise and his sometimes odd behaviour but damn, I rarely dislike him on screen.
For an American story, this film lacks Americans: We have Jude, Nicole, Gleeson (excellent as usual) and Ray Winstone all main characters and very much non-American. Nicole is pretty okay, nothing amazing as to be expected. Zellweger is better. It was a good film that I was able to sit back and become immersed in, with great help from the moving music. 7.5/10
"Come back to me. Come back to Cold Mountain."
