Cold Mountain

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Devastation was a feeling many Americans became accustomed to during the outbreak of the Civil war, but this devastation eventually evolved to be the rebirth of the United States. The numbers of casualties were tremendous, and families were torn from it, just as the nation was. There were social, economic, and political complexities that made the war seem even more impossible to resolve. Many filmmakers have tried to realistically capture these complexities in order to reveal the damaging war that preserved the United States. The accuracies can be analyzed in any film with comparisons to the film’s events, and actual events that occurred in the Civil war. One film that achieves this is Cold Mountain, which was released in 2003. It was produced by Iain Smith, and directed by Anthony Minghella, with stars in leading roles such as, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger. The film Cold Mountain does an acceptable job of portraying the Civil war through the role of the home guard, the roles of women, and the apparel, with few errors.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful love story that takes place during the Civil War in the year of 1864, and flashes back to 1861. W. P. Inman, the leading male role in the film, is shown at the beginning of the film in 1864 in the midst of Civil War. He is fighting on the confederate side, and experiences the pain and anguish that comes with war. He is trying desperately to go home to his new love, Ada, and treasures all the letters he receives from her. He decides to desert the war, and takes a deadly risk to be with her once again. As he is on his way back to Ada he encounters all different types of interesting people, all affected by the war in their own way. Inman eventually becomes captur...

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... with very few errors. Cold Mountain has a heart wrenching ending, and has a viewer at the edge of their seat through almost the entire film. The Civil War was a devastating time in American history, and after hundreds of thousands of deaths a new country was reborn.

Works Cited

“Cold Mountain.” Imbd.com. Web.22 Nov. 2011

http://www.imbd.com/title/tt0159365/. Schultz, Cathy. "Cold Mountain."

Schultz, Cathy. "Cold Mountain." University of St. Francis - Joliet, Il. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. http://www.stfrancis.edu/content/historyinthemovies/coldmountain.htm

Stevenson, Paul. The American Civil War. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2011. Print.

Sullivan, George. Portraits of War. Brookfield, CN: Twenty-first Century, 1998. Print.

“The Civil War.” PBS. PBS. Web. 22 Nov. 2011

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/facts.html.

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