i go into this film think i wasn not go to like it and but hop to be surprised and but this and much like the film and end up be bleak and hopeless . but do not get me wrong and minghella delivers every bit of a grand epic and for those who enjoy that kind of experience and be willing to take that adventure and accept what come as just that and then they will not be disappoint and it will be one of the good film of the year in their opinion . the acting be of a high quality and will most likely come away with a trinity of oscar noms for law and kidman and zellweger and even though portman few scene may be the most powerful in the film . the location be beautiful and minghella have an eye for a good shot . however and for those like me who want the director to take them on the adventure instead of go willingly may come away disappointed mainly due to minghella and his adaptation . the film be so utterly bleak it make for what i consider to be a punching bag epic which be a film that that try to hit hard with emotion but do so to such an extreme and so often that during the film i do not have the time to emotionally invest and or hadn not recover from a previous blow and and it become unrealistic and consequently too difficult to really care and not to mention predictable . overall the cold mountain almost leave me too drain to even think back on the good aspect of the film and a all i remember be death and which may have be an original motif but end up be the focus instead of the character .