Cold Mountain is a film I have been meaning to watch since I loved the novel. Finally this weekend I was able to do just that when I saw it on digidvd. And I'm glad that I didn't purchase the dvd since as usual the novel was much much much better.
The visuals were good, the cast very good (peppered with well known and talented actors throughout) with the three leads giving great performances (Kidman was the biggest surprise, usually she is not this good).
The one part of the story is about a civil war soldier who decides to leave the war (he is on the losing side) after getting severely wounded and becomes a deserter, trying to reach to his home and his beloved. The other part is the beloved who tries to make do in an environment to which she is a stranger, where she is all alone and unqualified to do the necessary tasks that will help her survive. Luckily she gets help from another girl who is very qualified to run a farm and who has excellent survival skills.
The novel is a poignant story full of various incidents that enhances the reading pleasure but more importantly we get to look inside the characters and see how they develop/evolve throughout. The film also does that but the outcome is not as successful. Maybe I'd have liked it a lot more if I hadn't read the novel.
There are very good visuals in it but I chose to feast the readers' eyes with a shot of Jude Law - who I think is not only very good looking but also a good actor.
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