Gone With The Wind, eat your heart out!

Rating: Null/10 (24 September 2004)

Anthony Minghella is a genius! He loves to do these complex love stories when love is at its deepest, when passion is at its greatest, and when heartbreak is at its most touching. Ada Monroe (the great beauty Nicole Kidman) is a shy Southern belle and the daughter of the local minister in the small town of Cold Mountain, North Carolina. At the beginning of the Civil War, she meets the equally shy and deep Inman (striking performance by the handsome and great Jude Law) and they fall in love. But it's not like what we would expect: Southern belle playing hard to get or the usual Civil War soap opera. Inman and Ada are so in love its crushing and their love is expressed through their looks, the awkward moments, and the passionate first kiss they share before he marches on to the war. The film dances between the past and the present, between the war fronts and the home front. We see through historical accuracy the horrors of war and the toll it takes on humanity and of society. We see the Yankees raping and pillaging the women left behind by their Confederate husbands. And we see the harsh struggles that those on the home front must endure. While Inman lays injured he begins to see the reality of war and its illusion. He is the classic hero defined by Joseph Campbell: on a journey where he is tested by lust, vengeance, and faith. He endures starvation, pain, and harsh weather. He is a deserter and a target for death by treason. But his only hope and his only reason is love. Love in all its purity and in all of its crushing power to be with the woman he loves: Ada. Meanwhile, Ada herself waits for Inman and waits with agony and worry that he may never return to her or may never have loved her. She struggles with poverty, the possibility of losing her home to thieving opportunists like Col. Teague (great performance by Ray Winstone), and borderline poverty. And then Ruby Thewes, (Oscar-winning performance by Renee Zellwegger) a tough, no-nonsense, and strong young woman who befriends Ada and together the two women learn from each other. Ruby teaches Ada how to farm and keep busy while Ada teaches Ruby about culture and love. Together they are like sisters fighting off the crows and the weather. Anthony Minghella uses the formula used in another complex love story called "The English Patient." He is not a filmmaker who will go for the girl meets boy and they live happily ever after soap opera or teen slick. He is fascinated by love stories where words are said at the last moment and when love is at its greatest in times of war. There are so many moments in the film, but my favorites: Inman and the old woman (Eileen Atkins) who nurses him back to health and sends him his journey. Inman and the young Confederate widow (a brief, but touching performance by Natalie Portman). He needs shelter and she is alone with her baby. The scene where she asks him to sleep next to her is so poignant and touching. She is lonely and in mourning of her lost love; He is in search of the woman he left behind. It was scene not to be in any sexual matter, but it was scene of comfort and of true humanity at its finest. But like any other war movie there are also moments of horror: "Patrols" on the home fronts torturing and killing their own people in search of deserters. Union soldiers terrorizing widows and families of the Confederate army (Natalie Portman has an agonizing scene when three Union soldiers force her to watch her sick baby being exposed to the cold in order for them to get food and to eventually rape her) "Cold Mountain" is a beautiful film because it shows both the beautiful and the ugly sides of the human race. The film is also a show of love at its greatest.