For anyone who may not know, I watched Cold Mountain last night, and I thought it was excellent.
It was very raw and emotional and very real, and pretty darn violent in places, and yeah I hid under a pillow.
Some of the scenes were shocking and came out of nowhere, and you weren't even prepared for.
But me being an antique dealer, and having a house that was built in 1887...I love looking at that time period in film. Nicole Kidman's house is very similiar to my house, the front porch is almost identical to mine.
I think it was beautifully filmed.
I swear the way they previewed the movie I thought I would hate Ruby- Renee Zellweger, but I loved her in the movie, I thought she was going to be kind of like a girl version of Forrest Gump, but she was very intelligent, and she didn't annoy me at all.
I love the friendship between her and Aida (Nicole Kidman). It was really great how they stuck together and went through thick and thin together-I really liked that.
I thought the scenery was gorgeous.
I loved the love story, the fact that they barely knew each other, but that something just made them "need and want to be with the other", and they both felt exactly the same way, and it was easy to understand it. I thought they did a good job of making you feel what they were feeling.
They did great acting jobs. Even the supporting actors/ actresses in it were really good.
See, if they can make 1 good movie, then why can't they make some more...in other categories- like comedy, horror, and suspense??
Posted by HipsterMom27 (Member # 2161) on :
This was a tough novel to turn into a movie...almost no real dialogue in the book, so I was interested to see how the screenwriter would script this story. I really enjoyed the book...US Civil War history is among my historical interests. The opening battle was so compelling, I had to do a little on-line research after seeing the movie. Me, I don't need a pillow over my face...bring it on, baby...just be historically accurate!
I've enjoyed Anthony Minghella's previous movies a tad more, so this is definitely not "The English Patient" but I liked it. Jude Law's quietly determined portrayal got to me more than the showier female roles...didn't care too much for Nicole Kidman's part...I don't like 'weak & useless females' though it was an accurate portrayal considering the times. Having read "Gone With the Wind" cover to cover over many years, women of this era were generally raised to be decorative rather than functional. [Not that there's anything wrong with that...I try to pull of being 'decorative rather than functional' whenever I can!]
I thought the women remained a little too pristine in appearance considering the depth of hardships they were encoutering...I noticed the clean hair & skin a little too much, as well as the perfect teeth. Not that I wanted to see missing teeth & dirty fingernails, but historical accuracy counts for much in a period piece.
Really got a kick out of Philip Seymour Hoffman's fallen reverend...I love watching the mighty fall...and I think he's a terrific actor!
Posted by isis9968 (Member # 1780) on :
I liked Phillip Seymour Hoffman too, he was hysterical. I didn't know Natalie Portman was in it, but I liked that whole scene.
Nicole Kidman looked very clean. I did think, how did she not know how to clean the house, because she just let everything go, and yeah I might have a hard time planting a whole farm full of stuff, but I think I could maintain the house part. But she did say a line about how useless everything she ever did was, when it came to real life stuff that she really needed to know, in order to survive.
Jude Law looked pretty grubby the whole way through it. But Nicole, even when she was at her worst, she still looked perfect.
Renee Zellweger, just looked like a normal person, but they both did look like they had their hair curled, and styled in every scene.
I really liked it though. I can't take stabbing and all that up close violence, that gets to me, so call me a chicken.
But, I know that is what happened. How come that group of bad guys wasn't out fighting the war??
I am going to buy this movie, my husband didn't see it yet, and I think he'll like it.
I definately would watch it again.
Posted by HipsterMom27 (Member # 2161) on :
The 'group of bad guys' was something known as the Home Guard throughout the south...there's a huge reference to it in the GWTW novel, not much in the movie. Apparently, it was their duty to protect the citizenry as well as impound any property/livestock/crops that might aid the Great & Noble Confederate Cause. If you re-read GWTW, during the fall of Atlanta passages, there's very harrowing description of old men veterans and young boys [who comprised the Home Guard] joining the exhausted confederate troops as fresh troops in futile hopes of beating back the Yanks. Now there's a book that the movie couldn't possibly do justice to, though I enjoyed the movie for what it was worth...would make an awesome mini-series that could cover a lot more of the novel for us purists...but I'm not sure anyone could get past the 1939 original.
I'm glad you found a recent movie to appreciate.
Posted by jlp937 (Member # 1877) on :
I totally agree with you isis on this. The love story comes across so effectively on the screen. I think that the chemistry between Nicole and Jude is amazing. I was actually kind of suprised at all of the funny parts in this. I liked how they had popular people play very small roles in the film. Such as Natalie Portman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jenna Malone, Melora Walters, and Taryn Manning.
I would definately have to also agree that they need to extend this excellence in comedy and horror.
