Author(s): JONES CHARLOTTE

Fiction

Director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley) has produced a powerful adaptation for film of the bestselling debut novel by Charles Frazier. Set in the waning days of the American Civil War, Cold Mountain is the story of Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier (played by Jude Law) who struggles on a perilous journey to get back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina - and to Ada (Nicole Kidman), the woman he left behind in going off to fight. In the course of his journey, Inman encounters a succession of extraordinary characters, while back at home, Ada is learning the ropes of managing her late father?s farm with the assistance of a drifter named Ruby (Renee Zellweger), who teaches her a few things in turn. Translating Frazier?s novel into the language of cinema, Minghella imparts to Cold Mountain the same level of emotional intensity that he conjured in his celebrated adaptation of The English Patient.