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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Differnt, but...., January 17, 2004
This review is from: Cold Mountain: A Screenplay (Paperback)
Okay, I admit that when I first read this screenplay, I wasn't exactly thrilled with how it came out. I read the book when it first came out and feel in love with it. So when I read the screenplay, I was a little shocked by how different it was. But then I realized something- of course it's different! It's a movie! Films can never truly depict the emotions and feelings of the characters in a book. So its necessary to add different things in, and to find a way to show those emotions. Once I realized that, I began to appreciate the screenplay all the more.... Let's face it.. Cold Mountain can only be described as a descriptive book. Which is great, but when you make a movie about it, descriptions aren't going to cut it. You need to show action and dialogue to get the point across. Which is exactly what Anthony Mingella did when he wrote the screenplay. This was HIS adaptation of the novel and what he thought should be shown. And I thought it was great. Yes,he changed some things, but I don't believe that readers of the book should automatically think this is a bad thing. If you like movies, you have to realize that you need to show more than people's thoughts. You need to show their actions. Which I believe was shown very accurately. Readers of books that are made into movies need to realize what I realized a long time ago: NO FILM WILL EVER LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE BOOK!
You know why? Because everyone will interpret a book differently. Thoughts, feelings, emotions.... everyone experiences things differently when you read a book. So when someone does adapt a book to turn into a screenplay... of course it's going to be different from what you were expecting! Because no person is the same as you.
I thought this screenplay was amazing, as well as the movie. Sure it was different from what I was expecting, but what is wrong with that? To those of you who hate how it's different from the book, let me just tell you this: Open your mind and heart and realize that no one is going to think the same as you. And try to appreciate that fact. Accept that for what it's worth and just enjoy that person's thoughts and hard work. Cold Mountain is an excellent screenplay and one everyone should read :)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anthony Minghella King of the Adapted Novel!, December 12, 2003
This review is from: Cold Mountain: A Screenplay (Paperback)
Anthony Minghella brings a rich prespective to his adaptation of the Charles Frazier novel "Cold Mountain". His screenplay is an adaptation true to the spirit and themes of the novel. The story involves Inman a Confederate soldier who has been injured in battle and decides he has had enough fighting. He begins his long journey back home to Cold Mountain and the woman he left behind there, Ada. Along the way he meets a bunch of characters looking to both help and hinder his journey home. Ada too is experiencing a journey of her own. The journey to survive after the death of her father something she is not accustomed to being a high society girl from Charleston. She must learn to care for her house and farm. One day a rural girl named Ruby shows up and ends up teaching Ada the survival skills to survive in a world where all the certainties of the past have been swept away. Now, when I heard Minghella had optioned the rights to make this movie back in 2000, I immediately read the novel. I fell in love with the way it was written by Frazier and the themes he uses in the novel. I also, liked the idea of the Civil War as the setting. The amount of loss and destruction to the South during this period of American history is very intruiging to me.
After reading the novel I was interested in finding out how Minghella was going to translate this material to the screen. After reading the screenplay, I think he has accomplished a great feat of adapting yet another novel into a winning screenplay. You will find some different things in the screenplay not in the book. For example, there are some very detailed scenes of Inman's fighting at Petersburgh. These scenes are mentioned in the book, but are fleshed out more by Minghella in the screenplay. I can't wait to see these Civil War battle scenes on the big screen! Also, if you read the book you probably noticed there is not a whole lot of dialouge in the book. I thought Minghella did a great job of fleshing out the dialouge in the screenplay. The exchanges between Ruby and Ada are very funny and it will be interesting how these characters are played by Zellweger and Kidman. Most of the key scenes and characters are in the screenplay and lovers of the book will be pleased to know that it stays true to the novel's spirit and tone. I am very interested to see the finished film on Christmas. It is receiving a lot of positive buzz from Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (#5 on his top ten list!), the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and the National Board of Review (#7 on their top ten list). From reading the screenplay I think Anthony Minghella has crafted another winning adapted screenplay, look for this to receive an Oscar nomination in January for Best Adapted Screenplay. If you are at all interested in the movie or the original novel this screenplay is highly recommended. It has all the key elements that make movies great adventure, drama, comedy, romance, and great characters. The themes of the novel continue to stay with me and this screenplay reinforces these themes. Cold Mountain is truly a work of art.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just what it takes..., March 20, 2004
This review is from: Cold Mountain: A Screenplay (Paperback)
Anthony Minghella is no stranger to film adaptations. He did the impossible when he translated the very poetic and cahotic The English Patient to the screen, and he did worders with a little gem called The Talented Mr Ripley (in my opinion, one of the best thrillers made during this last decade). Now Minghella tries his hands at translating the epic journey that is Cold Mountain to the screen and succeeds... somewhat. To really appreciate a film like Cold Mountain, you need it all; the script, the actors, the set, the costumes, the locations, the score... Everything has to be balanced just right in order to achieve greatness. Some have complained that the movie is shallow because you never truly feel the love between our star-crossed lovers. But I think that's the whole point of the story. Inman is really in love with the idea of a woman he has known for a very brief time, and Ida loves the idea of that man. Is it true love? I don't think so. What these characters need is to cling on to each other in order to survive the ordeals they are facing. Cold Mountain was a very big and busy book. Minghella needed to do choices when he adapted the story, cutting down what he deemed not as important. And I think the choices he made were the right ones. The story flows quite nicely and never stalls. But the real thing that drives this movie are the performances. The script might seem a bit stiff on the page, but an epic story is about the whole of it all. Minghella did wonders with a book that must have been very hard to adapt for modern audiences, and succeeded quite nicely.
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