Cold Mountain

Started by modage, October 23, 2003, 02:40:03 PM

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TheVoiceOfNick

I saw a preview of this last Thrusday, and thought it was awesome. At first I had trouble accepting Nicole Kidman as a young southern belle, but those feelings quickly faded as the story picked up steam. Jude Law gives an Oscar-worthy performance, as does Kidman. The movie reminded me a lot of Cast Away, but in this story, we get to see how both of the characters are affected by the war throughout the movie.

modage

hey, this was good.  anyone seeing it?  the war scenes in the beginning were incredible.  ONE- the long shots seemed so beautiful they could've been paintings, and TWO- the closeup shots 'in' the battle were so claustrophobic they really made you feel the crush of being there.  also, one of the biggest damn casts of the year.  EVERYbody wanted to get in on some of this action, and although from the beginning i've been holding its all too obvious "oscar bait" status against it, its still become one of my top 10 films of hte whole year.  also, love nicole kidman and as i mentioned on another thread, it was difficult for me to do anything but stare at her everytime she was onscreen.  (when did she get so damn beautiful?) my favorite segment of the film during his 'odyssey-like' journey was natalie portmans.  it broke my heart.  BROKE IT.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Weird. Oh

Yeah I saw this the other night. I'd have to agree that it was really good. The scenery was very beautiful. I think it was shot in Romania. The cast was pretty solid top to bottom and I really enjoyed PSH small character in it. It was quite heartbreaking at several different points.(Spoiler alert) The scene with Sarah (natalie portman's character) was very sad. Also, the scene where Teague basically kills Sally's husband and then when her two kids try to come to her rescue they shoot them is really heartbreaking. Again, I have to agree with modern, when Kidman was on the screen I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I've never previously been captivated by her as much as I was in this film. Cold Mountain definitely showed the brutality of war and the will to survive.

The only problem I had with this film was length and the relationship between Inman (Jude Law) and Ada (Kidman). There isn't much light shed on how they grew to love each other so much. We only see them meeting a few times and even the characters point out in the movie they can count on one hand how many times they've seen each other. [/b]
The more arguments you win, the fewer friends you will have.

samsong

Quote from: Weirdo1769movieMikeThe only problem I had with this film was length and the relationship between Inman (Jude Law) and Ada (Kidman). There isn't much light shed on how they grew to love each other so much. We only see them meeting a few times and even the characters point out in the movie they can count on one hand how many times they've seen each other.

I hate to use Romeo and Juliet as an example but the film has the same idea.  The fact that they could love each other and pretty much live for each other after a few glances and encounters emphasizes how powerful love is, even in fleeting moments.  It reminded me a lot of In the Mood for Love, which does take more time to show them getting to the point of falling in love, but also relies heavily on the quick meetings in the halls or how thehy pass each other by.  Inman even is confused as to why he tries so hard to get back to Cold Mountain for a women he loves that he hardly knows.  But again I thought that spoke of the power of love and its unpredictability.

I saw Cold Mountain as the Odyssey set during the Civil War and it was montrously beautiful.  It's sense of Romanticism is so dead on and is filling with these broad strokes of emotion and humanity that it rivals the epic work of David Lean (though I'll be the first to say that no one does it better than Lean).  Here we have grand characters, noble themes, and gorgeous, gorgeous scenery all jumping off the screen, tied together with a very soft score that amplifies everything.  The intimacy achieved in project as large scale as this one if something to behold, and reminded me much of McCabe & Mrs. Miller.  Having said that Cold Mountain has nuances of a Western and pulls it off extremely well.  The way the violence was handled is something Peckinpah would have been proud of -- though I think he would want more blood -- and the blurring of genre and reality is only better displayed in Unforgiven.  

The performances were solid all around as some have mentioned before but I had my problems, especially with Jude Law.  There were times when he delivered his lines like someone from the short bus would.  But he's still an incredible actor in my mind and did an excellent job.  Nicole Kidman... is beautiful, with talent to match.  The progressive chance in character is worthy of Daniel Day Lewis's performance in In the Name of the Father.  Renee Zellweger.  I have a bone to pick with her, since she stole my Naomi Watts's position as one of the five Oscar nominees for what is, in my mind at lesat, one of the worst movies of the last five years (I hate Bridget Jones's Diary).  But she won me back in Chicago and she goes and does this to me.  Despite my skepticism she does an incredible job.  Cold Mountain also has an elaborate supporting cast of stars who I had no idea were going to be in the film... which in the end turned out to be sort of distracting.  I would've hoped for some more anonymous faces, but all's well.  

The only huge problem I had with the movie is its predictable ending.  It put a stop to the emotions and were flowing through me when watching the film.  It also suffers from a all-too-familiar sense of, well, familiarity.  But no film is without its flaws and this is one where the craft and enormity, the grace and power o the film makes them overlookable.  The battle scene in this film blows away anything achieved in LOTR.  I say that because: a) I hate the scene of The Battle of Helm's Deep and b) it shows the full weight of death.  For anyone that's seen it, you know it's hard to watch.  Minghella should be commended not only for creating a wonderful piece of cinema but also for bringing back to movie violence the magnitude and weight it has as a powerful narrative device.  In a year when films like Kill Bill -- which I love -- makes movie violence looks like deranged, but surely fun, Cold Mountain steps in and shows what it's really all about.

Its flaws prevent me from giving it a ****/**** rating, because there were too many films this year that achieved a sort of "near perfection" status.  But I really was taken by this movie and enjoyed it quite a bit.

***1/2

Jake_82

Good movie. Jude law is hot. His character seemed very emo in an 1850s way.
your reality is at the end of your dream

Pubrick

under the paving stones.

Gamblour.

Quote from: P
don't say emo.

hahahaha

I saw this today, took me by surprise, a lot better than I thought it would be, the trailer made everyone seem goofy, but I can't believe I actually liked Zellweger's performance! She was really effective, and I'm really glad I wasn't put off by their southern accents (I thought I was touchy about this after Cape Fear, de Niro was just terrible). The war scenes were great and Minghella proves that when away from George Lucas, Portman can act like a badass. The story was good and I loved Law's journey (where did Melora Walters come in? I heard she had a cameo), and I think I've read arguments saying that Kidman and Law's characters didn't know each other enough to be in love. Well that's stupid, they completely acknowledge that it's the image and idea of that person waiting for them (a la Cast Away) that keeps them going, their time together is short but sweet. The ending was kinda flat, didn't feel too much for Kidman, but Jack White, I completely forgot he was in this, so I have to say, good job Jack, you blended in. I think that's a good compliment.
WWPTAD?

modage

Quote from: Gamblor du Jour(where did Melora Walters come in? I heard she had a cameo).

she was the pale nekid ass (with the person attached).
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Jeremy Blackman

The first half hour was worthless. Then it got really good, especially after the fence scene.

I thought there was a huge possibility of me hating this movie. I was surprised.

I got a really strong Legends of the Fall feeling from this. Any one else?

Ghostboy

The whole movie was about what I expected....excellence all around, but a little too slick to fully engage me at that sublime level which the best films work on. The scenes with Natalie Portman were by far the best, and had the emotion in that one brief moment in the bed been present in Jude and Nicole's love story, the movie would have been far better. That was a truly wrenching vignette.

The opening battle scene was amazing and indeed painterly, but I've seen many war movies that drove home the intimacy of violence much more than this one (and strategically, it didn't hold a candle to the Helm's Deep sequence -- it only felt more brutal because it wasn't a fantasy war, and because it was rated R -- but please pay no mind my endless LOTR defenses).

I definitely would reccomend the movie, if for nothing else than for Portman's scene, and for the brief image of a white horse trotting away from the battlefield, which was about as poetic and resonant as a cinematic image can be.

Pwaybloe

Saw it last night and loved it.  Everybody has picked out the best parts, so I won't repeat them.  

I was pleasantly surprised that Romania looked so much like North Carolina.  In fact, the area (Appalachian Mountains) where the fictional Cold Mountain takes place is about an hour or two from where I am.

My only complaint was, even though the talent was great, they used predominantly British actors in place of Southern actors.  Most of them did a pretty good job, but you could still hear some of thier original accent come through.  Listen to Ray Winstone and Eileen Atkins again.

Gamblour.

Quote from: Pawbloe
My only complaint was, even though the talent was great, they used predominantly British actors in place of Southern actors.  Most of them did a pretty good job, but you could still hear some of thier original accent come through.  Listen to Ray Winstone and Eileen Atkins again.

I thought about this too. But the Southern accent is a derivative of a British one, isn't it? I've always wondered how long it took the post-1776 people to lose their accents or have them morphed. But anyway...

I missed the first minute or two of the film, I walked in as Kidman was giving Law something while he worked on a house or something like that. It felt like the very beginning but I didn't know if I missed anything else.
WWPTAD?

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: Gamblor du JourBut the Southern accent is a derivative of a British one, isn't it?

Yes. It's a combination of a British accent and an African slave accent. Funny how that works.

Pedro

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: Gamblor du JourBut the Southern accent is a derivative of a British one, isn't it?

Yes. It's a combination of a British accent and an African slave accent.
that's fucking awesome.  where'd you learn that? smart one

The Silver Bullet

I'd have to say that Cold Mountain is probably one of my favourite movies of the year. It's got its flaws, of course [most films this year have had], but it's also got some really redeeming factors that make it stand out for me personally.

Aside from the picture's general technical excellence and wonderful performances, I also thought that the character arcs [especially that of Ada] were extremely clear, and wonderfully executed by Minghella's script and actors. Towards the end of the film, when Ada goes out to kill a turkey, I suddenly realised how far she had come personally, a transformation that stands on its own as much as it does as part of the film's major plot and subplots. It was a nice moment.

I also really liked the more complex [though not overly complex] ideas that littered the film. How does war change a person? How can you go back to the life you once had after something like war, which impacts upon you in such an extreme way? I found the film's presentation of wartime quite interesting, especially considering the number of war films this year that failed to present war as anything deeper than a matter of "good vs. evil". As much as I enjoyed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [and I did enjoy it], I must admit to having been really refreshed when Cold Mountain took a more complex and sophisticated route.

And I really loved its structure. It reminded me of The Good, the Bad and Ugly a lot of the time. And for that reason I consider it more of an Anthony Minghella Western than I do an Anthony Minghella Civil War movie.
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