Question: I saw a rough cut of Cold Mountain, and in the scene with Natalie Portman, her baby dies, and she kills herself, as in the book. In the movie as released, the scene stops after Portman shoots the yankee soldier. Why did they cut the baby's death and her suicide?
Oscar Bravo
6th Jan 2004
Answer: SPOILER: The director is building up to the peak of pathos of Inman being killed. While it is good to have many other sad scenes prior to this to foreshadow it, he probably felt that a dead baby and its mother's suicide might actually trump the hero's death in the sadness stakes which would make the real ending an anti-climax.
Oscar Bravo