did Minghella even read the book?

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2003)

First off - let me state that I enjoyed this film very much. Now...
let me begin my rant. I understand that every book or novel that is turned into a movie is subject to screenplay interpretations and revisions; a custom tailoring, if you will. But in the beginning, at the very touchstone of any screenplay of a successful novel, there must be the essence of the author's intention by which to proceed forward from. In the case of "Cold Mountain" it is just that - Cold Mountain. The book's central theme - it's essence - was Inman's love of home and longing for it's simpler life (back in Cold Mountain, NC) and THEN his love for Ada. I'm not downplaying that a major major theme of the book was the lovestory of Inman for Ada and vice-verca - and of course, the movie played that to the hilt. However, to ignore or at the very most make scant reference to, Inman's love of home and life back in Cold Mountain does the book and the moviegoer a great injustice.
Another theme (a central one at that) was Inman's abhorrence to the war and his own disgust with himself for his loss of innocence through his horrific experiences. I understand the time restrictions and limitations of film, but to barely develop the author's true characterization of Inman will leave those who did not read the book prior to seeing the film at a loss of why Inman was such a righteous man BEFORE the war.
It's interesting to think what Minghella would have done if given Homer's The Odyssey instead of Cold Mountain to direct. Would he choose to ignore the near god-like status that Homer betroths upon Odysseus throughout his epic and rush to put him in the sack with Kidman's fair-headed Penelope? Would he skip the Sirens and the Lotus Eaters in favor of a more violent encounter with the Swineherd?
Probably.