American History

The film Cold Mountain follows the story of Inman, played the Jude Law, and of Ada, played by Nicole Kidman. Inman and Ada met at a town in North Carolina, and as their relationship grew further, Inman decided to enlist himself to the Confederate army. The film opens with a scene at the entrenchment of the Confederate troops at Petersburg which was under siege by the Union. When the Union surprised them by blowing up the trap that lay under them, both Inman and Oakley, played by Lucas Black, were stunned and saw a rushing Union force attacking; the Union lost this charge. Oakley got wounded and was sent to the hospital while Inman and a platoon of Confederate troops hunted down trapped Union troops within their lines, wherein he got shot by one and later sent to a hospital. While Inman was on the battlefield, Ada was trying to field a farm with the aid of her neighbors and the mentorship of Ruby Thewes, played by Renée Zellweger. Both Inman and Ada kept exchanging letters until Inman deserted the army and was hunted down by the Confederate Home Guard—a band that hunted down and apprehends deserters, but was originally established to keep the peace within the Confederate states. At the same time, Ada and Ruby were being hunted down by the Confederate Home Guard for harboring deserters at a cabin in Cold Mountain. Inman finally made it to Cold Mountain and reunited with Ada, but he would die from a wound after fighting off the Confederate Home Guard. The last scene shows that Ada had a daughter with Inman.

The movie is a love story between Inman and Ada during the time of the civil war. The letters connect them to each other which is a great touch to the movie since it helps the transition from Inman’s point of view (POV) to Ada’s POV and vice versa easier to digest. The key strength of the story is that it follows the lives of a deserter and a Confederate citizen. Basically, it shows people of how a deserter is treated by the Confederates, or by any army, and how the home guards accuse and abuse the citizens, especially those that are harboring deserters. The film also features instances of how the Union side acted towards the Confederate citizens; such is the case of Sara—played by Natalie Portman—wherein Union soldiers tried to rape her and steal food. Thus, the overall strength of the story lies in its in-depth look on the POVs of both the soldiers and the citizens during the civil war.

While it may be a nice romantic movie to watch, it still has some flaws that can ruin the essence of the historical event that is the American civil war. For instance, it may be successful in showing the points of view of soldiers, citizens, and deserters, but it strays off from the actual civil war and into the home front itself wherein Confederates hunt down these deserters. In short, it does not help in any way in educating people about the actual civil war, except for the first part which is the only major encounter between the Union and the Confederates.

Overall, the movie features the struggles of citizens, deserters, and soldiers during the civil war. However, it strays away from the actual historical context of the war. Rather than concentrate on the encounters between the Union and the Confederates, it tracks down the life of a deserter and his lover in separate sequences. Hence, the movie does not really educate people about the actual history of the war, but it highlights how the people lived during the whole event. .