Movie Review: Cold Mountain

Taking place in the Civil War era, the movie Cold Mountain is a story about love in the time of war. The movie is basically about Aida (played by Nicole Kidman) and Inman (played by Jude Law) who, though they hardly even know each other, find themselves falling in love with one another. They first meet when Aida and her father move to Cold Mountain, which is where Inman lives. Once they meet they are secretly drawn to each other, and though they really do not hold very long conversations with each other, there is something about their connection which is very powerful. Unfortunately, war is soon declared and so Inman must leave to fight for the South. Again, even though they really don’t know each other very deeply, Aida promises to Inman that she will be waiting for him when he returns from the war. So with this in mind, Inman sets off to fight and ends up experiencing firsthand the horrors and hardships of war.

After countless battles, Inman eventually becomes seriously wounded and is taken to a station where he may heal. Once he regains his strength, he concludes that he must leave the war, and go back to Aida. Being a ‘deserter’ of the war, he has a difficult journey finding his way back to his home, Cold Mountain. Meanwhile back at Cold Mountain, Aida has fallen on hard times. Her father dies and because of the war she is left with hardly any money. She must learn to take care of herself, which is hard for her since she has always been a girl of wealth. Eventually, help comes to her in the form of a girl, named Ruby, who teaches her how to manage her land and house.

Throughout this whole time of trouble and hardship though, the two main characters still hold close to their hearts the hope that they would see each other again. As it ends up, Inman does eventually make it back to Cold Mountain. Aida and Inman are once again together, but it is not for long. Their reunion is cut short when Inman is shot and killed by a member of a corrupt group of men who watch over the town during the wartime. As for Aida, though heartbroken she is able to pick up the pieces of her life that were shattered by the war and move on, but she never forgets her love Inman.

As for my opinion of the movie, I thought it was good; it had an interesting storyline and the way in which it was filmed (the imagery and scenes shot) was done very well. It did have some flaws, which if fixed may have made the movie even better. Overall though, even with these flaws the movie still succeeds in being an enjoyable movie to watch.

The storyline of Cold Mountain definitely fits the genre of a ‘wartime romance’ movie. There are the two people who love each other, but the man must go of to war. He promises to come back and the woman holds that promise dear to her heart. While apart, their love for each other and desperation of being apart only grows stronger. Though in the end, whether or not the man comes back, someone usually dies. Death just seals the heart wrenching quality of the wartime romance movies. Although this type of ending was pretty predictable in Cold Mountain, the storyline and the filming in general overweighed its predictability.

Even though Cold Mountain was a pretty lengthy movie (about two and a half hours) I never found myself wanting to fall asleep or turn it off. The imagery of the battle scenes and of the country side of Cold Mountain were very beautiful and very impressive. In both particular types of scenes, the one aspect that really jumped out at me was the certain colors used in each one. In the war scenes there is always a dominance of reds and browns, smoke and clouds. On the other hand, the images of Cold Mountain are dominated by the vibrant green of the trees and grass. Using that kind of distinct imagery, I believe the filmmaker may have wanted to convey that the war scenes symbolized Hell, where as Cold Mountain stood as Heaven.

The one flaw that stood out to me in the movie though was the relationship between Aida and Inman. The fact that they hardly really get to know each other, let alone speak to one another, but they still somehow develop this deep, unwavering love for one another is really not realistic. If they had known each other better before Inman set off to war, then their relationship and deep desire for one another would have been much more believable. A deep a love as theirs could not have developed by just saying “hi”, which is not far from where they got in their relationship before the war separates them. I guess it is the possibility though that makes the situation so appealing.

All in all, Cold Mountain was an enjoyable and well made movie. Though somewhat predictable, the storyline was good and kept me intrigued. The best aspect of the film was the filming itself, which shot remarkable and poignant scenes. Even though the relationship between the two main characters was a bit unrealistic, I have come to the conclusion that it is the unrealistic-ness of their relationship that makes the story so moving.