Monday, February 17, 2014

BBC Mini Series: North and South


The other day we watched a BBC costume drama, North and South, a 2004 TV adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel. 

I have owned the DVD for a couple of years, which was bought together with another BBC period drama, Cranford. At that time, I was unaware of either Gaskell the author or her work.

I still haven’t read the original of North and South but have heard that the TV adaptation is quite faithful to the written story. The drama itself is worth watching for its romance, social concerns, its first-class acting, great chemistry between the main actors and atmosphere-creating cinematography.   

The story takes place in England in the nineteenth-century when English society was divided between its industrial north and the middle-class south. A young lady, Margaret Hale, moves to Milton with her middle-class family from a southern town, Helston; she then struggles to overcome her shock at the ruthlessness of the northern culture, learns to adapt herself to appreciating the working-class environ, gets to speak her social conscience aloud, and falls in love with a mill owner, John Thornton.

In the first episode of the serial, there is one scene that struck me. One day after the Hales have just moved to Milton, Margaret takes her routine stroll through the town. Descending a long staircase in a deprived area, she is suddenly crowded out of the main path by a group of workers who have just rushed out of mills for a break. Her distinctive beauty makes her a ready target for ridicule. Some of them start to tease her though without any obvious intent to harm, but the approach terrifies her. Higgins, one of the workers, comes to her rescue and escorts her to pass through the crowd. Showing gratitude, Margaret offers a coin to Higgins, who, however, replies instead ‘no charge, miss.’ 

The brief encounter reminds me of an incident during my stay in England. I used to share a rented house with friends. In one winter, the boiler of the house was in a terrible shape; it would stop functioning up to 3 or 4 times within a short span of one shower. Technicians were called in several times to no avail. The landowner was reluctant to replace the boiler, as it was costly. One day, another technician was contacted to check on the boiler again after another disastrous night. He informed me that scales had already piled up in the pipes and left very small space for water to go through, and the boiler would simply cease working if water pressure got low. He suggested that the best solution was a replacement given that the old boiler had already toiled for some good years. I phoned the landlady to explain the situation, but she remained unwilling and doubtful. I remember my language faltered as I did not understand much about the problem myself, and I also lacked the verbal ability to argue and persuade. I must have sounded even worse in a language that is not my mother tongue. The technician probably had heard my struggle and offered to take over the negotiation. In the end, the landlady made a concession to our favour. 

My personal experience is an issue complicated with multiple layers of differences between landlords and tenants, between blue collar and white collar, between the foreign and the native. While I was trapped in my own awkwardness when faced with these gaps, the one who helped me solve the problem was a total stranger, someone who had the least to do with the trouble. The landlady, however, who had the legal responsibility to offer comfort of accommodation, was reluctant to offer any assistance that might result in further expense.

My personal note and the fictional episode might not seem to have any obvious connection, but they together offer some elements for thoughts, I think. The contrastive views on money are employed to denote class differences in an interesting way. Those who are economically advantaged have the tendency of measuring human relationships in monetary terms. On the one hand, they are brought up to believe that money can solve problems and, on the other hand, they are also taught to expect that people who are economically inferior would always crave material return. The centrality of money here deprives a social being of the faith in innocent kindness and inculcates instead a false principal according to which everything can be, and should be, evaluated by its material worth.   

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As I have said, the serial of North and South was a pleasant watch. The leading actors, Richard Armitage as John Thornton and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale, were extremely charming, and they created such great chemistry in their performance. It is really difficult to take eyes away from the lovely couple. Armitage is definitely a rare gem in many aspects as an actor, let alone his beautiful look (!). He also played Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves, in Peter Jackson’s new trilogy of The Hobbit.

The setup of the ending in the drama is slightly different from that of the book, but I do prefer the television version. A banal happy ending in print was transformed into a very romantic and magical moment, which would definitely tickle every single viewer. To use Armitage’s own comment on this favourite scene of his, ‘it is a nice way to spend an afternoon.’

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