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Jan. 22nd, 2012 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
allisnowJust finished watching (well, I think it's my third time, so rewatching) North and South. The UK version, not the US Civil War one. I reread the book not too long ago. The miniseries isn't strictly faithful to the book, and there are some parts that must have been difficult to translate (for example, it seems like the deaths - or impending deaths - of various characters are more spaced-out in the book. Mom, Bessy, Boucher, Mrs. Boucher, Dad, Mr. Bell... much higher body count than anything Austen wrote!)
On the other hand, the changes that were made really work for the flow of the story, the acting is great and the casting is wonderful. And holy cow is Richard Armitage hot. That last scene, while completely not anything the author would have written (why do moviemakers seem to think that Public Displays of Affection were all the rage in the early to mid-1800s?) is, like, raow.
One thing I really like about both the book and movie incarnations is the moral ambiguity. Normally I like my heroes with white hats and the villains in black, but in this case I find it refreshing that in North and South there are really no wholly blameless or completely despicable characters. While Austen was good at giving her heroines and their love interests plenty of fault, there were also those characters with no redeeming qualities... the Elizabeth Elliots and Fanny Dashwoods and Caroline Bingleys. Probably the closest analog in N&S is Fanny Thornton, but she's just silly and vain in a kind of amusing way, not actually malevolent, IMO.
I'd be tempted to make a vid in the vein of my Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion vids (both of those are on http://www.salmonczar.net while it's still up!), if I came across the right tune.
On the other hand, the changes that were made really work for the flow of the story, the acting is great and the casting is wonderful. And holy cow is Richard Armitage hot. That last scene, while completely not anything the author would have written (why do moviemakers seem to think that Public Displays of Affection were all the rage in the early to mid-1800s?) is, like, raow.
One thing I really like about both the book and movie incarnations is the moral ambiguity. Normally I like my heroes with white hats and the villains in black, but in this case I find it refreshing that in North and South there are really no wholly blameless or completely despicable characters. While Austen was good at giving her heroines and their love interests plenty of fault, there were also those characters with no redeeming qualities... the Elizabeth Elliots and Fanny Dashwoods and Caroline Bingleys. Probably the closest analog in N&S is Fanny Thornton, but she's just silly and vain in a kind of amusing way, not actually malevolent, IMO.
I'd be tempted to make a vid in the vein of my Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion vids (both of those are on http://www.salmonczar.net while it's still up!), if I came across the right tune.
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Date: 2012-01-22 08:04 pm (UTC)... I find it refreshing that in North and South there are really no wholly blameless or completely despicable characters.
THIS.
Also, I'd rather have Mr. Thornton over Mr. Darcy any day of the week. I once told Rusty that he should know that if Rawrmitage knocked in my door, I was GONE. :D
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Date: 2012-01-25 02:51 am (UTC)How are you....
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