North & South
Actor(s):
Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack, Brendan Coyle
Label: BBC Warner
Publisher(s):
BBC Warner
Studio: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
MPN: WARDE2453D
Format(s): Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
List Price: $29.98
Our Price: $24.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Editorial Reviews
Description
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary on Episodes 1 and 4 by producer Kate Bartlett, director Brian Percival and writer Sandy Welch
Biographies:Cast bios
Deleted Scenes
Interviews:Specially recorded interview with Richard Armitage
Production Notes
Amazon.com
North & South is a splendid, four-hour adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel about an unlikely, and somewhat star-crossed, love between a middle-class young woman from England's cultivated south and an intemperate if misunderstood industrialist in a hardscrabble, northern city. Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale, forthright and strong-willed daughter of a former vicar (Tim Pigott-Smith) who relocates his family from a pastoral village outside London to unforgiving, largely illiterate Milton, a factory town where John Thornton (Richard Armitage) and his mother (Sinead Cusack), survivors of poverty, rule their cotton mill with an iron hand. Thornton befriends Margaret's father but incurs her wrath for his severity with his workers. What she doesn't notice is Thornton's core sense of responsibility for his employees' welfare. On the other hand, he misinterprets some of Margaret's own actions and intentions. Equally stubborn, the two drag out their obvious attraction over many painful months and events.
North & South's two leads are both very good, though Armitage's brooding, penetrating performance may very well be considered a classic one day. There are other wonders in the cast: Cusack and Pigott-Smith are superb, and Brendan Coyle is memorable as a firebrand union organizer who ultimately becomes an ally to a softening Thornton. The miniseries script by Sandy Welch is a persuasive mix of historical context and character study. Brian Percival's direction is full of moments that linger in the imagination, such as the winter-dream look of a busy cotton mill, with thousands of snowy fibers floating in the air. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Perfect!
Like other reviewers, I bought this dvd sight-unseen, and loved it at once! Gaskell's tale is wonderfully told (read the book if you haven't already) and the acting is excellent. While all the actors do a wonderful job, Richard Armitage practically walks off with the production. With his smoldering good looks and expressive eyes, he does for his character John Thornton what Colin Firth did for Mr. Darcy back in 1995.
Good but not great
Other reviewers set my expectations very high by comparing this series with Pride and Prejudice, so I was a little disappointed. Had I not expected Pride and Prejudice or better, I wouldn't have been disappointed at all. The acting is great but I wasn't crazy about the actress playing Margaret, I couldn't detect much emotion on her face, mostly that same blank stare she keeps through the whole thing. My main problem with it are all the changes from the book, I guess they ran out of time and a at some points the story gets disjointed and some parts do not make sense to me. I read the book after watching the series which helped a lot making sense of the whole thing, I wished they had not changed the story so much from the original.
If I compared this to Pride and Prejudice I would only give it 2.5 stars, P&B was much closer to the book and the story and characters more developed, Jane Austen's wit is far superior in my opinion as well. By itself, I'll give it a 4 since I love those period series and the DVD was good enough to get me to read the book.
Period drama at its absolute best!
North and South is a powerful narrative about two people, separated by class and culture, and the larger social issues that keep them apart but ultimately unite them. The story is supported by a ridiculously talented cast; brilliant, subtle direction; and a sumptuous, soaring score. While some may feel that the largely industrial setting detracts from the overall appeal of the film, director Percival "pastoralizes" the "dirty, smoky" town of Milton, and the viewer finds beauty in the pride and work ethic of many of Milton's people, transforming it into a natural world of sorts, amplified by the snowy appearance of the bits of cotton that drift about the mill, and the daily "country walks" Margaret (Daniela Denby-Ashe) takes through the local cemetery. There are other wonderful juxtapositions, like the dark-haired, black-clad John Thornton (portrayed to perfection by Richard Armitage, a new favorite), as he strides masterfully amid the white cotton drifts at Marlborough Mills. Positively delightful. If you appreciate literary adaptations, period dramas, or, simply, a story well told, North and South is definitely the sort of film you want in your personal collection.
North and South
The movie is wonderful about an England mill town.
Gives great insight into how people lived back then.
The service was fast without problems.
Buy it. Go on.
What is there left to say that has not already been written in the previous 300 odd posts? Nothing. So I'm just going to say simply, that this is the best period piece and the best BBC miniseries I've ever seen (and I've seen them all). The story is beautiful, the actors are fabulous, there is not really a single misstep in the entire production. But with that said, I do think that parts 3 and 4 of the series are a bit rushed, I think the series would've benefited from 5 parts instead of 4. Especially with part 4, so much was condensed and covered into 45 minutes that it didn't quite match the pace of the first two parts, and because of that felt a bit fragmented.
Anyway, if you're thinking about buying this, than I couldn't recommend it more. Just do it. Everyone that rents it I'm sure ends up purchasing it. And unlike a lot of BBC dramas (and dramas in general), this definitely stands up to repeated viewing. Strangely enough, it even seems to get better with each viewing.
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