Cold Mountain

Release Date:
December 25, 2003

View:                        COLD MOUNTAIN TRAILER

View:                        20/20 INTERVIEW

Official website:     COLD MOUNTAIN

Lyrics:                      COLD MOUNTAIN (pics and lyrics)

Music Tracks:          COLD MOUNTAIN

                                                                   Get the Sound Track Here !

And the 2004 Winner for Best Supporting Actress is:

Renée Zellweger in "Cold Mountain"

January 15, 2004   21:00(?)-    The Orange British Academy Film Awards® (BAFTA)

January 25, 2004   20:12    -    Golden Globe Awards®

February 22, 2004  20:15   -    Screen Actors Guild Awards® (SAG)

February 29, 2004  21:24   -    Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar)

Best Supporting actress
Renee Zellweger : Cold Mountain
usatoday.com

The winning role: Colorful doesn't begin to describe Ruby, a plain-spoken mountain gal who brings welcome comic relief to Cold Mountain from the minute she twists the scrawny neck of an ornery rooster. But Zellweger also exposes Ruby's vulnerability when she reunites with her no-account father.

Speech sound bite: She graciously thanked her Jerry Maguire co-star Tom Cruise "for showing me that very early on kindness and success are not mutually exclusive."

As Cold Mountain's hillbilly Ruby, Zellweger had us at howdy. After a third nomination in as many years (she was a best-actress candidate for 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary and 2002's Chicago), the academy obviously likes this bubbly blonde from Katy, Texas. But the switch to a less competitive supporting category in a scene-stealing part did the trick.

Zellweger, Minghella revisit Civil War in 'Cold Mountain'
japantoday.com
Thursday, April 15, 2004

TOKYO — When British director Anthony Minghella and actress Renee Zellweger got together in Tokyo this week to promote the Civil War drama "Cold Mountain," Minghella had to look twice at the woman beside him.

"I'd been used to seeing her in the cutting room for the past year that I'd forgotten what she really looked like," he said. "Way back, when I arranged to meet Renee for lunch in Los Angeles to discuss her participation in 'Cold Mountain,' even then I wasn't even sure what she looked like. I'd seen her in so many movies, but her appearance is always different."

The 35-year-old Zellweger was looking different again for the Tokyo visit, having shed her Civil War look for the Bridget Jones look with several extra kilograms to show for it. Zellweger has been on cloud nine since winning the best supporting Oscar for her role of the drifter Ruby in "Cold Mountain."

She speaks softly, always staring down, lifting her head only at the end of a sentence, to show her trademark smile that looks like she always has a mouthful. She worries, though, that her answers are too long.

"The Oscar experience ..." she cooed, "I don't really remember it, except telling myself not to fall as I go up the stairs. It was a very strange moment, as if the whole room had become a still set. I don't remember what I said, but since I haven't been reprimanded by anyone, I guess it was OK. Anyway, to me, the Oscar represents Anthony's vision and where he took all of us on the set. Oh, I'm doing it again, talking too much, aren't I?"

Minghella, who is drawn to complex novels for his source material, such as "The English Patient" and "The Talented Mr Ripley," said Charles Frazier's best-selling novel "Cold Mountain" struck a similar chord with him.

"It centers on the question of what is the best way of settling a conflict," he said."It begins with a battle and ends with a group of people around a table. Look at what's going on in the world today. Some people believe killing is the best way to end an argument, that force is the most persuasive way of solving a problem. But the wounds of the Civil War, for example, have never fully healed. I think 'Cold Mountain' is a plea to the world to try the longer, perhaps fuzzier, but more lasting means of sitting around a table in dialogue to solve our problems."

Minghella said he was influenced a lot by Akira Kurosawa in the way he shot the movie. "I think he is one of the few directors who have been able to capture the madness of war, how men become part of patterns in the conflict. I just want to say thanks to his spirit wherever it is."

Set in the waning days of the Civil War, "Cold Mountain" tells the story of a wounded confederate soldier (Jude Law) who is on a perilous journey home to his mountain community in the ravaged south, hoping to reunite with his pre-war sweetheart Ada (Nicole Kidman). While he has been away, Ada has struggled to survive and revive her father's farm with the help of the gutsy Ruby.

"I loved the childlike and fearless spirit of Ruby and I am very familiar with the region," said Zellweger who was born in Katy, Texas. "Once I put on the costume, darkened my skin to make it look weather-beaten, it wasn't too hard to become the character. It was more a challenge of understanding the social conditions, what life was like for women in that period of American history." Filming in a remote part of Romania in freezing temperatures helped put the cast in the right frame of mind, she added.

Born to a Swiss father and Norwegian mother, Zellweger got interested in acting in high school while working in the drama club. After graduating in acting from the University of Texas, she filmed some beef commercials and landed bit parts in movies such as "Reality Bites" (1994) and "Empire Records" (1995) before getting her first big break as Tom Cruise's agent in "Jerry Maguire" (1995).

She has proven adept at comedy and drama, working non-stop for the last few years in films such as "One True Thing" (1998), "Nurse Betty" (2000), "Me, Myself and Irene" (2000), "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001), "White Oleander" (2002), "Chicago" (2002) and "Down With Love" (2003).

Next, Zellweger is off to Toronto to film the Depression Era boxing drama "Cinderella Man" with Russell Crowe as soon as she sheds the weight she put on for "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason."

"It's a hectic pace, but I love what I do, I couldn't ask for a better life," she said. "There, I gave a short answer."

Renée Zellweger Wins Oscar for 'Cold Mountain'
reuters.com
Sun Feb 29, 2004 09:23 PM ET

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Renée Zellweger won the Oscar on Sunday night as best supporting actress for her scene-stealing role as the scrappy, plain-spoken farmhand Ruby Thewes in the epic Civil War romance "Cold Mountain."
 

And for Zellweger, fast becoming one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, the third time was the charm. She was previously nominated for best actress as the insecure heroine of "Bridget Jones's Diary" and as the homicidal hoofer Roxie Hart in "Chicago."

The 34-year-old Texas-born actress made her big-screen breakthrough as the object of Tom Cruise's affections in the 1996 hit comedy "Jerry Maguire."

A host of roles in widely divergent projects such as the delusional soap opera fan in Neil Labute's offbeat comedy "Nurse Betty" and as Meryl Streep's daughter in "One True Thing" followed.

In "Cold Mountain," based on the novel by Charles Frazier, Zellweger plays the tough but loyal farm girl sent to help Nicole Kidman manage her deceased father's farm amid the deprivations and cruelties of war. Critics raved about her scruffy, earthy performance.

But range isn't surprising for an actress whose early work included "Dazed and Confused," "Reality Bites" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation."

Zellweger has been a favorite of the Golden Globes voters who honored her three years in a row.

Now she can add Oscar to her awards-crammed mantelpiece.

Zellweger take supporting-acting prizes at SAG awards
10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
The Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles
Sunday, February 22 8:00 PM

Renee Zellweger, a nominee for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role for "Cold Mountain," presented for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading theatrical motion picture role.

She also went on to take the supporting actress honor for the Civil War saga "Cold Mountain".

Zellweger, who won the guild's lead-actress award last year for "Chicago," was honored for her salty turn as a Confederate handywoman determined to survive the hardships of the war.

"I was spoiled for riches on this experience," said Zellweger, who thanked co-stars Nicole Kidman and Jude Law and director Anthony Minghella. "It was such an honor to go to work every day beside you."

The awards boost Zellweger's prospects at next Sunday's Academy Awards, where she is nominated in the supporting category.

January 10, 2004
Best Supporting Actress nominees:

Patricia Clarkson         Pieces of April
Marcia Gay Harden      Mystic River
Holly Hunter               Thirteen
Scarlett Johansson      Lost In Translation
Renee Zellweger          Cold Mountain

Anthony Minghella, director of the award winning film "Cold Mountain", was called to the stage stating that while Ms. Renée Zellweger is an extraordinary chameleon, he was not "her".

Renée Zellweger is presently in London filming Bridget Jones' Diary and the nominated director stood in her stead to receive the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress she won this evening for her role as the scrappy "Ruby Thewes" of "Cold Mountain".

"Cold Mountain" to open Berlinale film fest
Thu Jan 8, 2004

BERLIN (AFP) - Anthony Minghella 's "Cold Mountain", the Civil War epic starring Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Jude Law , will open the 54th Berlinale film festival scheduled from February 5 to 15, distributors of the film said.

In the United States, the film is leading the field in Golden Globe nominations, including best movie drama. Those awards will be presented late January, just ahead of the Academy Award nominations.

"Cold Mountain" was produced by Miramax, which last year also had the opening film in Berlin, "Chicago", starring Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The Berlinale ranks alongside Venice and just below Cannes among the world's best movie festivals.

Cold Mountain' Tops Golden Globe Nominations
Fri, Dec. 19, 2003

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association dropped their nominations for the 2004 Golden Globes. The Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" collected a leading eight Golden Globe nominations Thursday, including best drama, as Hollywood marked the start of its annual trophy-giving season.

• Best Motion Picture – Drama
"Cold Mountain"

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Nicole Kidman, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Director - Motion Picture
Anthony Minghella, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Anthony Minghella, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Gabriel Yared, "Cold Mountain"

• Best Original Song - Motion Picture
“You Will Be My Ain True Love” — "Cold Mountain" Music & Lyrics By: Sting
 

Cold Mountain Soundtrack Released
[cmt.com] December 16, 2003

The soundtrack to the film Cold Mountain arrived in stores Tuesday (Dec. 16), featuring two new songs from Alison Krauss. Known for helming the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, T Bone Burnett produced the project, which also includes new music from Norah Jones, James Taylor and the White Stripes' Jack White. The film Cold Mountain, starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger, will be released nationally on Dec. 24.

The movie is clearly being positioned to get among the Oscars.

Readers of Charles Frazier's best-selling novel congratulated themselves that they were reading  something of high literary value, but the story is really your basic heartbreaking romance set against a  Civil War backdrop.

Who else to bring a grand dimension to it than Anthony Minghella, director of the sweeping "The  English  Patient," also set during wartime and situated in hostile, rough terrain?

Jude Law plays Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who goes AWOL to find his true love, Ada   (Nicole Kidman), who has been suffering a Scarlett O'Hara-type fate back at Cold Mountain, N.C. War  and her father's death mean she has to learn how to work the land, and instructing her step by step is  a plain-spoken local girl (Renee Zellweger).

Despite Kidman winning a suit against a British tabloid for reading too much into her off-screen  relationship with Law, Miramax is banking on their chemistry.

World première for Mountain movie
[news.bbc.co.uk] 12/8/2003

'Cold Mountain' songs have starring role
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY 11-28-2003

Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Jude Law aren't the only stars featured in Cold Mountain, the Civil War epic arriving Christmas Day. T-Bone Burnett, the veteran producer behind the Grammy-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, has corralled an equally glittering ensemble for Cold Mountain (Music From the Miramax Motion Picture), due Dec. 16.

Inspired by blues, folk, country and gospel influences, the film soundtrack will include new songs by Elvis Costello and Sting. Celebrated bluegrass performer Alison Krauss will sing both Sting's You Will Be My Ain True Love and The Scarlet Tide, which Costello wrote with Henry Burnett.

Zellweger's beau, Jack White of the rock band White Stripes, who makes his feature film debut in Mountain, appears on five additional tracks, among them traditional and blues covers such as Wayfaring Stranger and Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over,and his own original composition, Never Far Away. Other contributing artists include Tim Eriksen, the Reeltime Travelers, Riley Baugus and Tim O'Brien.

"These artists are all true to the sound and spirit of this music," Burnett says. "They cross decades, and centuries, to create traditional music that lives in the moment and reveals the old, coarse truths."

JACK OF ALL TRADES
[nme.com] 11-22-2003

JACK WHITE is to contribute five tracks to the ’COLD MOUNTAIN’ film soundtrack, including two new songs ’NEVER FAR AWAY’ and ’CHRISTMAS TIME WILL SOON BE OVER’.

The White Stripes guitarist will also play the traditional ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, ‘Great High Mountain’ and a cover of legendary bluesman Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World’ on the compilation.

As well as appearing on the soundtrack, White has a small role in the film as an itinerant singer and musician. ‘Cold Mountain’ – a Civil War-era drama and adaptation of Charles Frazier’s book - is set to open on December 25 in the US and stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger.

As reported on Billboard the album, released Stateside on December 16, will also feature songs from bluegrass artist Alison Krauss and pianist Gabriel Yared.

The tracklisting for ‘Cold Mountain’ is:

Jack White ‘Wayfaring Stranger’
Reeltime Travelers ’Like a Songbird That Has Fallen’
Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus & Tim O'Brien ’I Wish My Baby Was Born’
Alison Krauss ’The Scarlet Tide’
Tim Eriksen & Riley Baugus ’The Cuckoo’
Jack White ’Sittin' on Top of the World’
Tim Eriksen ’Am I Born To Die?’
Alison Krauss ’You Will Be My Ain True Love’
Sacred Harp Singers at Liberty Church ’I'm Going Home’
Jack White ’Never Far Away’
Jack White ’Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over’
Stuart Duncan & Dirk Powell ’Ruby With the Eyes That Sparkle’
Cassie Franklin ’Lady Margaret’
Jack White ’Great High Mountain’
Gabriel Yared ’Anthem’
Gabriel Yared ‘Ada Plays’
Gabriel Yared ’Ada and Inman’
Gabriel Yared ’Love Theme’
Sacred Harp Singers at Liberty Church ’Idumea’

Golden Globes Preview
[hollywoodreporter.com] 11-20-2003

The Anthony Minghella-helmed "Cold Mountain" boasts the blue-ribbon credentials of a potential award winner. Based on Charles Frazier's National Book Award-winning novel about a love affair tested by the horrors of the Civil War, it has an A-list cast led by Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger -- and it's backed by Miramax, whose commitment to courting awards is legendary. "The book controls the extremities of romance and cruelty, and the film tried to collect those two polarities," says Minghella, an Oscar winner for 1996's "The English Patient." "It's filmed on a very large scale, but its interests are very human."
 

Mr. Bullseye
[aintitcoolnews.com] 08-31-03

Nicole Kidmans character Ada took some time to grow on me. When we first see her I wasn't excepting her playing the role of southern belle. But after a half hour or so she grew on me and Kidman does a great job through out the rest of the movie.

The true star of this movie though is Renee Zellweger. Her comedic performance as Ruby throughout the movie made the three hours fly by. This movie doesn't get into high gear until she shows up and starts working (a scene with a rooster that had me dying ). She not only lightens the load for the audience but gives Kidman's character laughs when she needs it most.
 

Click picture to enlarge

05/20/03 (Dark Horizons)
According to ZENtertainment, Sting and Elvis Costello have recorded new songs for the soundtrack.


12/27/02 (Dark Horizons)
Jack White's role has been revealed; he plays the husband of Renée Zellweger's character.


11/22/02 (Launch.com)
Cold Mountain has just finished filming in Romania. Jack White, of The White Stripes, is writing the film's soundtrack, and his band will be performing over the weekend at the cast's wrap party.


10/25/02 (Screen Daily)
MGM has dropped out of the production, leaving Miramax to foot the $80 million Cold Mountain bill alone. Apparently, the two distributors never agreed on the budget. Miramax is now looking for another partner to share Mountain's cost.

Hey Jude - My Law! Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman film "Cold Mountain" on Belle Isle
[Richmond.com]
Sunday September 22, 2002

British actor and Hollywood heartthrob Jude Law went fishing this weekend. On Belle Isle.

Jude Law, people.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "A.I." star camped out on Belle Isle Saturday and Sunday to film scenes from his latest flick, "Cold Mountain," a Civil War drama based on the National Book Award-winning novel by Charles Frazier.

The talented Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia") also joined Law for a series of shoots at the quarry and on Belle Isle's sandy beach.

In the film, Law stars as "Inman", a wounded Confederate soldier who deserts the Civil War to trek 300-plus miles through the dying South to reach his North Carolina home on Cold Mountain and the sweetheart he left behind.

Directed by Anthony Minghella ("The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "The English Patient"), the film boasts a star-studded cast that includes Renee Zellweger, Giovanni Ribisi, Kathy Baker and

 Nicole Kidman as Inman's ladylove.

Law and Hoffman, however, were the only "Cold Mountain" cast members to fly into Richmond to film a series of scenes at Carter's Grove, Williamsburg and Richmond's Belle Isle.

"It's a beautiful scene overlooking the James River on Belle Isle. I don't blame them for coming all this way to film it," said location manager David Martin. "We knew we were going to be filming scenes in Williamsburg and the Belle Isle shot was strong enough to make the trek."

According to Martin, the location crew didn't need to do much work to make Belle Isle look Civil-War-authentic.

"Basically, we just had the greens department cover the CSX train tracks with light gravel," he said.

On Saturday morning, a caravan of trucks, trailers and catering vans set up shop on Belle Isle. The crew closed off the tip of Belle Isle to joggers and walkers to film Law's fishing scene with Hoffman who plays a "preacher-on-the-run."

When "Cold Mountain" wrapped its Belle Isle scenes on Sunday, the cast and crew flew back to Romania to film a series of winter scenes.

There may be a brief hiatus in the "Cold Mountain" filming, however. Law's wife, Sadie Frost, just gave birth to a baby boy on September 10.

"Cold Mountain" plans to be released in December 2003.

09/10/02 (Dark Horizons)
Filming in Charleston, S.C., was temporarily halted Monday after Jude Law flew back to England to be with his wife, Sadie Frost, as she delivered the couple's third child.


08/23/02
Rumors of a two-studio budget battle are brewing. The Hollywood Reporter brings news that MGM and Miramax are bickering over the bottom line, but an MGM exec was quoted as saying he's optimistic that an agreement can be reached without affecting the film's shooting schedule.


08/20/02
Rocker Jack White, of the White Stripes, will have a small role in the flick and will provide some original music too. (Cinematic Happenings Under Development)


08/08/02 (Dark Horizons, IGN FilmForce)
Want to have a part in this movie? An open casting call will be held Aug. 14-15 at the Outlet Mall in Williamsburg,Va. Get a jump on things by reading this script review.


06/14/02
Jude Law looks like he's out. His replacement, possibly Matthew McConaughey, should be announced in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Donald Sutherland and Jenna Malone have signed on. (Coming Attractions)


06/04/02 (Hollywood Reporter)
Natalie Portman has officially signed on, as have Giovanni Ribisi, Brendan Gleeson, Kathy Baker, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.