Broadcast this Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 8:55 p.m. on Arte, Back to Cold Mountain can count on a top-notch cast. Surprising anecdote: the film has something in common with Gladiator. Tele-Leisure explains to you.
It may not be his best-known film, and yet… For all cinema lovers, Anthony Minghella remains above all the director of the magnificent drama The English Patient. Upon its release in 1996, the film won over audiences, grossing over $230 million worldwide. A few months later, he won no less than 9 Oscar statuettes, including that of best film, best director, and best actress in a supporting role for Juliette Binoche (who spoke about her intervention at the Césars) . The director returns three years later with The Talented Mr. Ripley (new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel), worn by Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cate Blanchett. In 2003, he then found the second in Back to Cold Mountain.
Between romance, drama, and history
A great specialist in romantic frescoes, Anthony Minghella adapts the bestseller of the same name published by Charles Frazier in 1997. Back to Cold Mountain takes place during the Civil War. Daughter of the pastor of the small town of Cold Mountain, North Carolina, Ada (Nicole Kidman) crosses paths with Inman (Jude Law), a worker engaged in the Southern army. They fall head over heels in love but are quickly separated by conflict. During a bloody battle at the siege of Petersburg (Virginia), the soldier narrowly escapes death. Meanwhile, Ada struggles to survive on the family farm since her father’s death. She then sends a letter to her beloved to convince him to desert in order to come to her aid. Inman embarks on a journey to find her…
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A star horse
Oscar winner for her supporting role, Renée Zellweger (star of the trilogy Bridget Jones) completes the top three of Back to Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. An excellent cast to which are added Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Donald Sutherland, or even Ray Winstone. This denier also revealed a surprising anecdote during an interview on the radio show Desert Island Discs from BBC. According to him, Teague, his character in the film, rides a horse named George, which would be the one that Russell Crowe rode… in the great classic Gladiator (2000). Possible, knowing that only three years separate the shooting of these two films!
