Love, Loss, and Drama during the Civil War

Rating: 6/10 (24 September 2006)

The film Cold Mountain portrays aspects of the Civil War in many different ways. Cold Mountain does not focus on an actual battle, or series of battles, but rather around the lives of a few people and how the war at large impacts all aspects on their lives. The film depicts an odd duality, a double edged sword, and shades of gray that have become the modern understanding of the Civil War. The war is shown as not an end, or final destination, but rather as a journey, fraught with war and peace, love and hate, and action both magnanimous and malevolent, and all the shades in between.
The film opens with the siege of Petersburg. An explosion tears the cities defenses asunder, and soon after an unfortunate union corps charges into the crater left by the explosion. Here an understanding of the savagery and murderous nature of the war was illustrated as hundreds of Confederate soldiers take position around the edge of the crater and pick off the helpless Union forces trapped inside. Wild calls of bloodlust fill the air as countless blue coats die. Yet amongst the bloody horrors of war the protagonist Inman, dives selflessly into the crater in attempts to rescue a mortally wounded comrade. Though surrounded by an immense slaughter one man brazenly risks his own life to save that of another. This action shows us the duality of the understanding of the war, wanton carnage, and selfless valor to protect life all in the same scene.
Life away from the front is seen through the eyes of another protagonist, Ada, a preacher's daughter cast adrift in a small unfamiliar town. Her love interest, Inman, goes off to war leaving her alone to cope with the hardships the war brings to those who remain behind. The war brings chaos to a previously tranquil environment. At the onset the men cheer for their long awaited war, and joyfully march off to the sorrow that awaits them on the battlefield. The film illustrates the hardships that await those who remain as the news of the deaths of the once exited boys return to Cold Mountain. Ada nears madness with uncertainty and anticipation of Inman's fate. The townsfolk suffer under the unscrupulous care of the local magistrate and his posse. Life at home slowly unravels into struggle and despair. The portrayal of the hardships of the civilian southerners establishes a modern understanding that the war left no aspect of social life unscathed.
The stark suffering of the battle's aftermath is portrayed as Inman is wounded and taken to an over-crowded makeshift hospital. Men lay all around, bleeding and dying as moans of their suffering fill the space. These scenes add additional understanding of the massive scale of pain and human loss. Yet in this hopeless location, one man's will to live and to return to his love overcome the grisly reality and as soon as he is physically able he decides to desert and fueled by a letter he takes on the long and arduous journey home.
The journey of Inman echoes the central focus of the film. This journey exposes the viewer to various social and individual impacts left by the war. The chaos created by the war act as a perfect backdrop to display both the very best and very worst aspects of human nature. Inman comes across reverend Veasey, who is about to drop an unconscious African American woman into a river because he had impregnated her. Later he and Veasey pay a young girl an exorbitant price to be ferried across a river to escape perusing soldiers tracking deserters, half way across she offers her body up for a price. A moment later she is killed by rifle fire from the departure point. After their escape Inman and the fugitive Veasey come across a man who offers room and board for their assistance, they agree and are baited into a trap set for deserters. Later Inman is welcomed into the home of a young, recently widowed mother, her infant son is ill, her husband had been killed in action and she is left to reconcile survival with the pain of carrying on alone in the world. All of these vignettes signify the disorder, opportunism, and survival mechanisms of individuals attempting to cope with the societal shock-waves of the Civil War.
One of the few positive side effects of the war portrayed in the film is how circumstances caused by the war bring individuals together. As Ada struggles with depression and madness another young woman, Ruby, appears on her dilapidated farm to assist her. Ada might not have survived otherwise. The two women help inspire each other to do what is necessary to survive. These circumstances allow Ruby to reconcile with her estranged father, and meet her future husband.
As Inman's long journey reaches it end and he returns to Ada it seems that all the suffering each had to overcome was worth the cost, love triumphs over trials. However, their time together is not long as Inman is fatally wounded in a gunfight with a local unscrupulous law officer. The long journey home and all the ordeals that were overcome seem to be for naught. Despite this tragedy, Ada is able to move on her with her life and with the help of her new friends, all brought together by the war, and create a good and happy life.