Amazonian

Rating: Null/10 (16 August 2010)

I heard lots about this movie. I rented it when it came out on DVD. Watched it. Thought it was well shot. Well staged. Well acted. Well directed. Heck, even the script was good.
But there was something missing.
What was it? Oh yeah, the guy got shot in the end, and his wife winds up with the good life.
We live in a day and age where the marketers are chasing social trends. Social trends in turn feed off of the marketing that affects society. One synergizes with the other. It's a chicken and egg thing. One follows the others' trend, hoping to cash in. Who's in the lead? I have no idea. But the morning news, the soap operas, the game shows, nearly everything you can think of is aimed at garnishing dollars. And "Cold Mountain" was no different.
Consider; Law goes off to fight in the war while Kidman stays home. Not a big variance in theme there, but Law's character gets challenged with the harsh brutality of Civil War, while Kidman's character, though facing her own challenges at home, isn't quite so fretted with what could happen to her so much as what could happen to her neighbors.
We see one love making scene after Law's character comes home, and then a violent confrontation. And Law get's shot. Kidman? She goes on to live a happy and fruitful life now that she's been given a child from her alleged love of choice. I don't know about you, but it seemed more like Kidman's character was waiting to be fertilized than to protect her man.
Is this worrisome? Not really. If any feminist thinks this is a good message, then they're off their rocker. Me, I found it trite. A much better film with much the same story, better production values, and just scoring higher marks in the theme and values department, is Ang Lee's "Ride With the Devil".
Lee's film tells a better story; the harsh non-mystical realities of tribal warfare, and why men and women need each other, and why they create families that need one another as well. It's a story of survival to keep the hope of romance and family alive. In short, it's a better film on all levels.
"Cold Mountain" is sophomoric pablum. It's aimed at the "Sex in the City" crowd, only designed to ride on the coat tails of other historic Civil War success stories.
And that's why I didn't take a liking to "Cold Mountain". The film should've been renamed "Cold Women", for not one man of worth survives to the end of this film. And the one man who should have, was shot in the gut, and needlessly so.
I guess you could say I don't really like this film much.
Watch it for its aesthetics, but then understand what you've seen after it's all said and done. It's an angry film for an angry segment of the sexes.