Cold Mountain (North Carolina) settlement on the real-life mountain. The peak is accessible only by hiking a spur of the strenuous Art Loeb Trail. A major motion picture based on the novel was distributed by Miramax Films in 2003. The movie was actually filmed in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. A Miramax Films spokesperson cited higher production costs however director Anthony Minghella had said that the lack of old-growth forests and period buildings as well as the lack of dependable snowfall were the primary reasons he chose not to film in Western North Carolina. A 2015 opera production followed. "Cold Mountain Hunter" a 2004
Tom Ripley 1960 adaptation of "The Talented Mr. Ripley", film critic Roger Ebert described Ripley as "a committed hedonist, devoted to great comfort, understated taste and civilized interests. He has wonderful relationships with women, who never fully understand who or what he is. He has friendships -- real ones -- with many of his victims. His crimes are like moves in a chess game; he understands that as much as he may like and respect his opponents, he must end with a checkmate." While Highsmith never explicitly portrays Ripley as gay or bisexual, certain passages in the Ripley novels imply that he