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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Crafting an epic story that Homer would have been proud to call his own, Anthony Mingella's adaptation of Charles Frasier's novel manages to capture the feel and gritty texture of Frasier's romantic epic novel set during the Civil War. Inman (Law) becomes the story's Odysseus facing obstacles in his perilous journey to return home to his love Ada (Kidman). Although they met only briefly, the two immediately sparked and Ada is the only thing that keeps the deserting Confederate solider going through this episodic but finely crafted film. Ada finds a sense of determination and self-reliance she never knew she had when she hooks up with Ruby (Renee Zellweger in her Oscar winning performance) as tough as Ada is delicate.
While "Cold Mountain" lacks the emotional depth and consistent structure of Mingella's equally compelling "The English Patient," the director manages to craft an involving and powerful story that shows the memory of love, although brief, can sustain one through difficult and trying times often resulting in determination and skills that both Ada and Inman never believed they had.
The entire cast does a spectacular job. Academy Award nominee Kidman gives a multi-layered performance where most actresses might have relied on surface mannerisms to portray the complexity and anguish of Ada's character. Zellweger deservedly won her award in a stunningly fierce and dynamic performance that overcame much of the negative publicity generated by the Weinstein's when they aggressively campaigned for Academy Award nominations for the film. Philip Seymour Hoffman in a supporting role as reprehensible Revered Veasey continues to demonstrate why he's one of America's finest actors; he takes what could have easily been digested into a one dimensional stereotypical role and gives it the perfect seasoning that Mingella's script needs. Donald Sutherland also shines in a brief but strong supporting role as Reverend Monroe. If there was any doubt after the "Star Wars" movies she made about her acting ability, Natalie Portman puts them to rest with her nicely tailored performance as Sara in the film. With such a stunning cast (I haven't even commented on the performances by the marvelous Giovanni Ribisi, Ray Winstone, Brendan Gleeson or Kathy Baker), Mingella manages to make magic despite a fractured narrative style.
Considering the epic length and complexity of the images in "Cold Mountain," I'm surprised and happy to report the film looks stunning on DVD. With rich use of colors, subtle shading and shadows well rendered during the transfer process. The clarity and sharpness of the images give the film an added depth that could easily have been lost in the transfer to DVD. As a result, the film is even more involving than most home video experiences. "Cold Mountain" rivals and in some areas surpasses the exceptional looking "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in terms of its rich reproduction of the colors and images of the film.
The twenty minutes of deleted scenes demonstrate the wealth of material that Mingella had to work with and it's a pity that the key scenes haven't been reintegrated into the film as they provide much needed depth and clarity for some of the actions of the characters in the film. Still, if Mingella's film doesn't quite reach the heights of "The English Patient," it's a noble attempt that more than makes this film a worthwhile treat for fans searching for the sweep of epic, romantic dramas. Mingella continues to be one of the few directors that can take an emotionally complex story in the tradition of David Lean and render an emotional complex film different but every bit the equal of its source material.
The supplementary material includes a couple of strong featurettes and a great documentary on the making of the film. Most documentaries serve as little more than advertisements as to how great the film you've watched should be. Instead, we get a glimpse into the complex world of movie making and how the simplest disaster can wreck havoc on a production. Given all the variables from casting to design, it's a wonder any good movies are made now. Films have become a maze of meetings, location scouting, casting choices, script and direction decisions that can easily topple. If one of these rogue dominos falls slightly out of place, the whole film can come to a violent halt and the project may become a stillborn disaster. We also get to see a 28-minute making of featurette that's a cut above the average fare. Aside from the terrific documentary, the real treat here is the 90-minute "Words & Music" concert special featuring Alison Krauss and many of the other performers from the film. Performed at UCLA's Royce Hall, the presentation and performances are spectacular and their inclusion here along with the documentary makes this 2-disc edition of "Cold Mountain" one of the best DVD releases of the year.
Mingella's articulate commentary track also features Editor Walter Murch ("Apocalypse Now" both the original and "Redux" version, "The Conversation," "The Godfather," and "THX-1138") and provides an enormous amount of detail about the making of the film. Mingella also discusses some of the research he did outside of Frasier's fine novel. He and Murch also discuss the challenges of condensing Frasier's more convoluted narrative and streamlining it without sacrificing the most important elements of the story. Murch's observations about the editing of the film and performances are almost as involving as Mingella's.
An epic romantic Civil War drama that echoes Homer's The Odyssey in sheer spectacle, "Cold Mountain" manages to involve the viewer from the first carefully planned frame to the last. Although not as emotionally rich or gripping as "The English Patient," "Cold Mountain" is a fine return to form from Mingella after his brief flirtation with the much more character orientated "The Talented Mr. Ripley." If it doesn't quite scale the heights of his Academy Award winning World War II epic "The English Patient," it isn't for lack of ambition or production values. The sprawling narrative from Frasier's popular novel doesn't suffer from the streamlining but Mingella's film lacks the bold, emotionally rich core of "Patient." It's still a fascinating and compelling piece of filmmaking worth every bit you can devote to it. |
