Review of Cold Mountain (2003) by Smijatov — 09 Jun 2012

This is one of my favourite novel-to-film 'epics'. Minghella manages, just like he did with the "English Patient" to create an engaging, interesting and inspiring feature. Truth be told, it is a bit long, and that could have potentially be changed, but Minghella stayed true to the novel, which is rather important in adaptations, so I didn't mind that too much.

Beautiful cinematography and very good editing, along with great costume design and production design make this a technically greatly done film. The musical score is one of my favourite soundtracks of all time, with excellent Oscar nominated songs by Alison Krauss.

The cast has gotten a lot of critical acclaim for this, but seems a lot of the audience had a problem with Zellweger and Kidman. I must say I thought they were both excellent, though vastly different roles - which is also what emphasised their uniqueness.

Zellweger is just stunning and truthfully portrays the tomboy that Ruby is, and does it with flare and charm. Kidman was not miscast, unlike many state, simply because that is what the character in the novel was like in both age and behaviour.

A coy, weak woman in her early 30s sheltered by her overly-protective father, and having the face real-world problems after a lifetime on unpreparedness. Law is also very good, as are the supporting actresses and actors, making this one of the best casts of the year.

Overall, "Cold Mountain" has very few things wrong with it - actually, I cannot think of any straightout. Of course, it could have been shorter, and it could have clicked a bit better with me on some points, but overall it is a good, strong epic, technically superb and with a strong, A-calibre cast to boast.