The look of Nicole Kidman...

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2004)

I didn't watch The English Patient, so I can't talk about it; but I did watch Talented Mr. Ripley and it seemed to me that Minghella an elegant filmmaker, sober and perfectionist, and an excellent actors director. Now, Cold Mountain corroborates all those qualities. He's adapted to the big screen a classic love story set in USA's Civil War, where a refining girl (Nicole Kidman) has to face up to poverty and to the absence of her beloved one (Jude Law), who's gone to fight in the War. The movie has two main lines: Kidman's character's evolution from a well educated and respectable girl to a farmer; and the oddyssey of Jude Law to come back to her from the battlefield.
Ok, the story is nothing extraordinary, there're plenty of movies in the same line (starting by that icon called Gone With The Wind); but there's only one Anthony Minghella. He looks after every detail, he lavish care every sequence, every shot. Photography is just spectacular, and so are the locations. Wardrobe and soundtrack are just nice.
Since Cold Mountain is based on a novel (just like Talented Ripley -and English Patient I guess-), the narrative style is rather literary, with a voice over and such well cared dialogues. Maybe Anthony Minghella's biggest defect is that he takes pleasure in every scene, in every view, in every look, and that makes his movies a little too long, and a little slow sometimes. He seems to be incapable of making a 90 minutes movie.

As for the cast, well, this is the very strong point of Cold Mountain. Nicole Kidman shines so bright, and she demonstrates that her talent seems to have no limits (maybe it's nothing to do with it, but since she divorced Tom Cruise she has incredible grown as an actress, so much so that she's become the best actress from his generation). Also her beauty is remarkable, she's more beautiful now than when she was 25 or 30. No doubt she's the most memorable thing in Cold Mountain. I'm not much of a Jude Law's fan, I think he's quite unexpressive, and without many registers, but maybe a more histrionic actor wouldn't have fit the character. I don't know much about american accents, but it seems to me that Mrs. Zellweger makes a good job imitating an accent that's not her natural one (and she takes charge of the funny points in CM -that's something she sure knows how to do-). There's also an impressive team of supporting actors: Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Philip Seymour Hoffman ... a top quality cast.
One of the best Hollywood pictures from 2003. A wise way of spending the money from the Studios.
My rate: 8/10