Cold Mountain movie storyline. 1860s America — In a country torn in two by war, it will take an extraordinary journey for people to come together as one. This journey is at the heart of Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier’s National Book Award-winning novel about love, friendship, nature, survival and the changing of America at the end of the Civil War, and now a motion picture directed by Academy Award-winner Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient”) and starring a cast headed by Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger.
Cold Mountain follows the intertwined paths of three people equally uprooted by war, three people whose physical and spiritual survival comes to depend entirely on one another. First, there is the Confederate soldier Inman (Jude Law) who, wounded in battle, fights his way home to the woman he loves – crossing a nation at war with itself.
As he treks towards his beloved Ada (Nicole Kidman), driven by memories, Inman encounters slaves and rebels, fends off soldiers and bounty hunters and finds unexpected friends and dangerous enemies at every turn. In a parallel journey of faith and newfound bravery, Ada’s road is no easier as this once well-bred, sheltered woman must take on a perilous world alone, bereft of companionship or knowledge of the outside world, and protect her father’s farm from ruin and attack.
Rescue arrives for Ada in the unlikely form of a feisty drifter named Ruby (Renee Zellweger), who becomes an equal part of the story as she teaches Ada about strength, self-reliance and an astonishing natural world Ada has never known. Now, as they come ever closer to one another, Inman, Ada and Ruby weave a story about the longing for home after being in the wilderness, the longing for peace after the brutality of war, and the longing for love and family at the heart of the American experience.
Cold Mountain is a 2003 American epic war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Charles Frazier. It stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renée Zellweger in leading roles as well as Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters, Jena Malone, Donald Sutherland, Brendan Gleeson, Ray Winstone, Eileen Atkins, Jack White, Kathy Baker, Cillian Murphy and Giovanni Ribisi in supporting roles.
Cold Mountain opened to positive reviews from critics and won several major awards. Renée Zellweger won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in the film. It was also a success at the box office and became a sleeper hit grossing more than double its budget worldwide.
Cold Mountain, where the film is set, is a real mountain located within the Pisgah National Forest, Haywood County, North Carolina. However, it was filmed mostly in Romania, with numerous scenes filmed in Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The film was one of an increasing number of Hollywood productions made in eastern Europe. This is occurring as a result of much lower costs in the region; and in this specific instance, Transylvania was less marked by modern life than the Appalachians (fewer power lines, electric poles, paved roads and so on). Musician Ryan Adams was approached for the role of Georgia but declined.
Cold Mountain: Music from the Motion Picture shares producer T Bone Burnett with the soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a largely old-time and folk album with limited radio play that still enjoyed commercial success, and garnered a Grammy. As a result, comparisons were drawn between the two albums. The soundtrack, however, also employs many folk and blues elements.
It features songs written by Jack White of The White Stripes (who also appeared in the film in the role of Georgia), Elvis Costello and Sting. Costello and Sting’s contributions, “The Scarlet Tide” and “You Will Be My Ain True Love”, were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and featured vocals by bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. Gabriel Yared’s Oscar-nominated score is represented by four tracks amounting to approximately fifteen minutes of music.
Cold Mountain (2003)
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Kathy Baker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone
Screenplay by: Anthony Minghella
Production Design by: Dante Ferretti
Cinematography by: John Seale
Film Editing by: Walter Murch
Costume Design by: Carlo Poggioli, Ann Roth
Set Decoration by: Francesca Lo Schiavo
MPAA Rating: R for violence and sexuality.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: December 12, 2003
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