The Englishman that went up Cold Mountain
Posted: February 17th, 2004 | Filed under: Film | Tags: actors, blandness, bridges of madison, bust, cold mountain, cruises, dancer in the dark, drivel, emotion, faint echo, innocence, jude law, lars von trier, meryl streep, nicole kidman, novel, pitts, two films, udo kier, wet blanket | Comments Off
Why I should watch two films starring Nicole Kidman on the weekend when I have never felt any emotion watching her perform other than ‘meh’, I don’t know, but I did.
Cold Mountain. Nothing more than airport novel drivel — like Bridges of Madison bloody County. But beautifully filmed. Interesting cast of supporting actors (and thankfully no Meryl Streep) but I never felt more than a faint echo of passion between the two leads and certainly no reason why they should pine for each other as much as they do. As for Jude Law, eyes like a British Udo Kier, head shaped like a Roman bust. Brooding, distant, untouchable. Certainly a better face to see on the big screen than the wet blanket blandness of the Cruises and the Pitts.
I didn’t watch Lars von Trier’s Dogville, I had it on in the background. One step up from the so very annoying The Idiots. (I never saw Dancer in the Dark) Fascinating, a candidate for a longer, more concentrated viewing. I liked the one scene between kid and Kidman — the innocence of children’s always been overrated, how refreshing to see one evil adult in the making.
