南方与北方 North and South review by epinion

Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale who is a gentleman’s daughter from southern England. Her father makes an independent decision to change his career path and abruptly moves the family to the northern industrial town of Milton. They packed up and left their gorgeous country brick cottage surrounded by lush grounds and headed north on the train.

Once in Milton, culture shock sets in as the skies are grey and there is a lack of greenery and an abundance of poverty in this industrial cotton milling town. The people seem unfriendly and the struggle of acclimating to this new lifestyle begins.

It is interesting to watch the transition from this utter and complete culture shock in the beginning to a very different view point by the end. Part of the shock of this life sets in as Margaret runs into John Thornton at one of Milton’s cotton mills. Richard Armitage did a fine job of playing John Thornton and I absolutely fell in love! Armitage played the villain so well that I remember thinking there is no way that this is the love interest!!! He of course had an explanation later in the movie to make his actions understandable. Armitage brought many intricate layers to the character of John Thornton and I really enjoyed watching him!

There are a few scenes in this movie that were so beautiful that my heart felt like it just stood still. The cotton mill set used was an actual working museum of an 1850’s cotton mill and as the cotton is spun, the fluff is everywhere. The effect of this is an amazing “snow” flurry and it is incredible to watch some extremely dramatic heartfelt moments as John walks through the snow in utter torment over Margaret. In fact the first scene of John is Margaret looking across the vast room through this flurry at him.

Later in the movie, John is watching as Margaret leaves through an actual snow storm and I could feel his pain as he pleaded for her to look back at him from the carriage. The final scenes are played out to perfection and I found myself backing it up and watching the last part again.

Like Pride and Prejudice, this story explores the differences in classes, but not in the same way as Jane Austen. In the South, the Hales are highly regarded and middle class. When they come to the North, they have lost quite a bit of their status in a town that raises the status of merchants rather than gentlemen. Likewise John Thornton has raised himself up from poverty to become the master of the cotton mill and is high in this northern society, but would not be well regarded in the South. It is an interesting twist on love between social divides because Thornton does not consider himself worthy of Margaret despite his high status in Milton.

Changes in society behavior between the two regions is very apparent and it is difficult for Margaret and John to reconcile their cultural differences and not take offense to each other’s viewpoints as a result. For example, in the South a lady would never take a gentleman’s hand in a casual greeting. In Milton, Margaret initially offends people because she will not take their hand, but eventually surprises even Thornton by taking his hand in greeting.

I love this piece! It is a perfect blend of gorgeous scenery, fine acting , and heartfelt moments that truly made me hold my breath. I watched all 233 minutes of this in one sitting because I simply could not turn it off! I had no idea what I had been missing by not seeing it!

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