North & South

There was a mini-series of the same name about the Civil War with Patrick Swayze but this is not it. North & South was a BBC production based on the novel by the Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell. North and South is a beautiful story, not about the glamorous lives of lords and ladies seen in the works of Jane Austen, but of the working class, what we call “Blue Collar”.

The story is about a young woman named Margaret Hale who is the daughter of a clergy man in the South of England. Margaret’s father makes a brash decision to quit the church after conflicting with the new teachings and moves the family to the fictional mill town of Milton in the North. The move devastates Margaret’s mother who is already very frail and the smoke filled poverty stricken streets shock Margaret who never knew life could be as hard as it is in Milton.

The pride of Milton is its cotton mills, of which there are several. The skies are perpetually grey and the people first appear to be unfriendly and are leery of the Hale’s and gossip about the Preacher’s reasons for moving his family. Whilst looking for properties with her father, Margaret meets the owner of Marlboro Mill, John Thornton who is beating an employee who was found to be smoking. Margaret is disgusted with his disregard to his lesser man and is set against ever liking him. John however is infatuated with her stoic demeanor and thoughtful nature and forms an attachment to her.

Throughout the movie, I felt as though my heart was just about to explode, it was so visually and emotionally beautiful. Much like the novels for women at this time, this story looks at love and the class system in England at the time. Where Margaret came from comfort, John was a self made business man having come from utter poverty. Because of the stark differences between the social behavior of the regions and upbringing, John is not worthy of Margaret despite being a well to do factory owner.

As the two experience devastation and loss, their previous misconceptions about the other disappear as they grow to understand and sympathize with the way each other lives and thinks. I absolutely loved this movie and watched all 4 hours in one sitting. The acting was great and the story was so touching, I just about forgot to breathe through half of it.