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Cold Mountain is an American civil war movie written and directed by Anthony Minghella in 2003. It is the story of a soldier W. P. Inman who lives in cold mountain. He was among the men who enlisted to fight for freedom during the civil war leaving behind his girlfriend Adah Monroe. Inman is an orphan whose parents died when he was a young boy. Adah is a southern girl who lives in the city and has just moved to Cold mountain from Charlotte to help her ailing father a minister. Inman is a carpenter who according to Sally he is a man of few words, rarely interacts with many people. Determined to come back to her lover, Inman sneaks out of the hospital he was being treated after he was wounded by the [http://confederate%20union%20soldiers. confederate union soldiers.] Adah on the other side lost his father and did not have anybody to teach her how to survive. Only her neighbor Sally sticks around with her until one day a girl named Ruby passes by asking if she can hire her to work and only get paid by food and they soon form a strong friendship.

The plot
"P.W." Inman is a young man who lives in Cold Mountain (North Carolina), a small town in North Carolina. He is a carpenter and a man of less words. One day while he was doing his work he saw a beautiful lady who captured his eyes instantly and he fell in love with her but does not know how to express himself to her. The lady was the young Adah daughter of a minister she has just moved to town to care for her ailing father, reverend Monroe Donald Sutherland.. Adah also falls in love with Inman. To get him to talk to her she is given a tray of drinks to take to the workers who worked with him. This was the only way she could get to speak with him. Inman tells Adah how people make fun of his name all the time and he is used to it. Their courtship was cut short by the civil war and all young men who had enlisted were all required to go fight in the war. Inman kisses Adah before parting ways and embarking on the journey. Adah gives him a book to read in order to keep his mind busy and a picture of her. He also gives her his picture and Adah promises him that she will be waiting for him to come home to her when the war is over. Shortly after Inman was gone Adah’s father died. She is left alone to cater for herself, she finds it too hard to live without her father since she had been brought up in the city and did not know how to cook, or do farm work. Her father’s farm soon falls apart and she is forced to go to her neighbors house and eat with them. Sally(Kathy Baker) and her husband Esco. One day a girl named Ruby shows up in her house asking if she wants a helper till the land in return for payment she would be allowed to stay and eat. Adah soon became close friends with Ruby and she teaches her how to cook, clear the fields and even plant vegetables. In no time the farm produced enough food that they even gave some to Sally when they realized something was wrong since her farm was falling apart. Ruby had been living all alone when her father left her at the age of 8 and has never seen nor heard from him again. Back in the war, Inman and his soldiers were ambushed and the army lost many soldiers and only few survived. Inman was among the survivors. A young boy Oakley was his close friend. While out cleaning the next day after they had won, soldiers from the confederate union attacked and Oakley was badly wounded. He later died at the hospital with Inman beside him. Inman had been receiving letters from Adah and he kept them all in the book she gave him with her picture. The next day when they had been sent with his platoon to kill the surviving troops trapped behind the lines, Inman was wounded but survived and was taken to the hospital. There he received a letter from Adah which would later turn to be the last letter he received from her. The nurse read the letter to him. At the end of the letter Adah tells him she is still waiting for his return. Inman decided to go find his way back home to Adah. The journey was long, three winters later he had not made it home. Adah kept her faith of seeing him again despite everyone’s opinion telling her that all the soldiers had been killed. On his journey Inman met with a preacher Veasey(Philip Seymour Hoffman) who was carrying a black woman with him standing at the edge of the river. Inman questioned him who the unconscious lady was, Veasey said it was her black lover who was pregnant with his baby. He had drugged her and was going to throw her in the river to avoid shame since he was a married man. Inman quickly threatens to shoot him if he throws the lady and orders him to return her to her bed which he did. Later on in the jungle he comes across the same man and he promised him that he was a changed man and soon journeys together. Along the river bank they met Junior(Giovanni Ribisi) pulling a dead bull he wanted to take home to feast. Junior lives with two of his sister in-law and they are not married. They pleasure men in order to get food. They were served with alcohol and soon they were all drunk junior entertained them showing his dancing skills while the women seduced the two men. Junior’s wife Lila tries to seduce Inman after Junior leaves. Junior returns home with cold mountain Adah sees Inman's image in a reflection of the well with a mirror thanks to Sally who tells him she has been doing the same ritual and believes it was true. During the war, Ada and Ruby, with the other members of their community, are tormented by members of confederate home guard men led by Teague(Ray Winstone) with an intention of seizing their land. He also lusts for Adah. The men killed Sally’s husband Esco(James Gammon) and  their two boys leaving Sally injured only to be saved by Adah and Ruby.  several tense encounters with men who are members of the Home Guard. Teague’s grandfather once owned much of Cold Mountain. Ruby's estranged father Stobrod(Brendan Gleeson), also a Confederate deserter and a violin player, arrives and reconciles with her. The women celebrate Christmas with Stobrod, who has deserted and arrived to Cold Mountain with traveling companions Pangle(Ethan Suplee), a simple-minded banjo player, and Georgia, a mandolin player to whom Ruby is attracted. Stobrod convinces Ruby to make a coat for his intellectually devoid banjo player and she did. Georgia, a young mandolin player, attracts Ruby’s attention. Adah and Sally notice it and when they leave,  Adah tells Georgia he was welcome to come back whenever he wanted. Musicians were considered deserters and were killed the same as the boys who had not gone to fight. While camping in the woods one night, Stobrod and Pangle are cornered by Teague and the Guard while Georgia watches from hiding; Pangle unintentionally reveals the musicians are deserters, and the Guard shoots Pangle and Stobrod. Georgia escapes and informs Ruby and Ada, who return to the scene to find Pangle dead and Stobrod badly wounded. The women remove a bullet from Stobrod's back, and they take shelter in an abandoned Cherokee camp. Ada goes hunting for food and is reunited with Inman, who has finally returned to Cold Mountain. They return to the camp, and spend the night consummating their love for the first time. The Home Guardsmen, however, soon find the couple in the mountain and are determined to kill Inman because  they know he's a deserter. While fighting off the men, Inman is shot by the young arrogant Bosie (Charlie Hunnam), but manages to kill him as well. Ada runs after towards the direction of the gunshots and finds him just as she saw in the well earlier when he was coming back to her. He dies in her arms.

Casts
Jude Law as William "W. P." Inman Nicole Kidman as Ada Monroe Renée Zellweger as Ruby Thewes Eileen Atkins as Maddy Kathy Baker as Sally Swanger James Gammon as Esco Swanger Brendan Gleeson as Stobrod Thewes Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reverend Solomon Veasey Natalie Portman as Sara Giovanni Ribisi as Junior Lucas Black as Oakley Donald Sutherland as Reverend Monroe Cillian Murphy as Bardolph Ethan Suplee as Pangle Jay Tavare as Swimmer Jack White as Georgia Ray Winstone as Teague Melora Walters as Lila Taryn Manning as Shyla Emily Deschane as Mrs. Morgan Charlie Hunnam as Bosie Tom Aldredge as Blind Man Jena Malone as Ferry Girl Richard Brake as Nym

Production
The story is set in the Blue Ridge Mountain North Carolina and, as the novel’s author Charles Frazier observed, “You can’t go to California or Canada and have those mountains stand in for our mountains” the film company didn’t go to California or Canada instead it went to Romania where the opening battle scene, the savage Battle of the Crater at ‘Petersburg, Virginia’ in 1864 was staged on farmland in the remote village of Potigrafu, Romania, about 25 miles north of capital Bucharest. Arnold also gives the view that the slow to no modern life in the rural areas of Romania with no telephone poles with a guaranteed snowfall is perfect for the film setting scenes. Whereas In Cold Mountain North Carolina, a few inches of snow covers the mountain and melts away in weeks, inconsistent and unpredictable. The movie is based on a true story that during the civil war and protagonist character William P. Inman was his real name; he served in the confederate army at twenty fifth North Carolina  infantry division. In the last page of the novel, the author acknowledges and apologizes to the soldier's wife for the great liberties taken by his husband. Verifications and the truth of his life story can be found in a compiled military service. There is a compilation briefly describing “W.P.” Inman is listed to be five feet seven inches tall with dark hair who was twenty two at the time of his enlistment. His records show that he was wounded after a long seven day fight and later deserted the service.

Theme
Romance  Inman and Ruby shared a brief short romance before he left the town for war. And on his return before he got home he met with Sarah, a widow with an infant with whom he consoled her by sleeping beside him in her bed. Juniors wife and her sister all seduce Inman and Veasey after the feast in their home. Trauma Inman lived a traumatic life throughout the movie. Although he survives the war his life was never the same and he tells Adah that he was a changed man if only she can open his heart and see what had happened to him and what he had done. Inman has killed many people in trying to survive. It was either he was killed or he kills. Sally’s husband and two young boys are all killed by the home guard army leaving her traumatized. Hospitality When Adah’s father dies, the community comes together to help her and teach her how to survive. Sally, her neighbor treated Adah respectfully and when her husband was killed by the home guard army, Adah with the help of Ruby helped nurse her wounds. When Adah first arrived at the cold mountain she was warmly welcomed by sally. The strange old lady in the forest and Sarah both welcomed Inman into their homes although he was a total stranger to them.

Critics Response
Reception The real Cold Mountain rises to about 6030 feet above sea level in western North Carolina. Its debut stirred some controversy among those who live near the region  with many criticizing as to why the movie had to be produced in Romania instead of the real Cold mountain region. The producers chose to film the movie in Romania to reduce the cost and boost since it cost less to produce a film in Eastern Europe as compared to other countries. In his defense film production commissioner in North Carolina stated that it would have provided a big economic boost to the region. In 2002 23 films were produced in North Carolina generating$231 Million revenue and quickly the region has grown quickly and is now ranked third in revenue film generation behind California and New York. Critics The movie has a flaw structure whereby the film establishes a romantic relationship among the main characters but is kept apart almost the entire film session. Inman had met Ada Monroe for only less than five times and did not fully know each other. Roger Ebert, gave the film ⅘ star rating noting that it evoked a rare love war  where in the end of the film, the movie critic in his view is of the opinion that the film producer's decision to include letters between Inman and Adah is based on an idea not a story to keep the romance strong and alive. The movie was takes place entirely in the south during the civil and slavery period yet there are no slave owners or slaves involved except for a few run ins during the play. The movie received a 71% critic review on rotten tomatoes, ⅘ stars on empire media, and ⅘ stars on common sense media. The film’s end does not resonate with the image painted in the play, Adah and Ruby’s reaction to the death of the little goat surpassed the reaction of Inman’s death. His death had long been coming whereas that of the little goat was a surprise. Adah lived hoping Inman would return but was not sure if she would see him alive.

Comparison to the novel Cold Mountain
Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Charles Frazier’s novel cold mountain allows the view to feel the realm agony of death, loneliness and misery surrounding love. If Ada, a privileged white woman, represents the South’s ruling class -- “I know how to arrange flowers,” she laments, “but not how to grow them” Inman’s worth is measured by his closeness to nature, not his distance. The slaves. In the film the slaves are shown fleeing across the corn field shown a little, silent but it adds more meaning to the film as compared to the book where the slaves are omitted. Ruby. While she is seen as a white girl skilled and adapted to farm life in the film, Frazier describes her as a “black thing, corded through the neck and arms. Her hair is black and coarse as a horse tail. Broad across the ridge of her nose. Big dark eyes, virtually pupiless the whites of them startling in their clarity. She went shoeless but her feet were clean. The nails of her toes were pale and silver as fish scales.” The plot in and that of the film has some gaps missing. In the novel, Sally’s family is not massacred in front of her by the guards as shown in the film. Also in the novel Ruby has black hair and dark eyes while Adah has dark curls but Minghella's unrelenting choice to show unpretty misplaces the author’s intended aim of the storyline. The gruesome torture of women in the film is not included in the novel. Inman accompanied the river girl to her home safely and even paid her more for the trouble he caused where in the film the girl is shot dead.