North and South - 2-DVD Set ( North & South )

North and South - 2-DVD Set (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Alternate Title: North & South
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2&4 )

Running Time:
233 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
2-DVD Set
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Interactive Menu
Production Notes
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2004 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Brian Percival

Written By:
Elizabeth Gaskell
Sandy Welch

Actors:
Daniela Denby-Ashe ..... Margaret Hale
Richard Armitage ..... John Thornton
Sinéad Cusack ..... Hannah Thornton
Lesley Manville ..... Maria Hale
Tim Pigott-Smith ..... Richard Hale
Pauline Quirke ..... Dixon
Brendan Coyle ..... Nicholas Higgins
Anna Maxwell Martin ..... Bessy Higgins
William Houston ..... John Boucher
John Light ..... Henry Lennox

Synopsis:

North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One in November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of cotton mill owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers clashes with her growing attraction to John Thornton (Richard Armitage). The serial is based on the 1855 Victorian novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was adapted for television by Sandy Welch and directed by Brian Percival.

This series operates on many levels. At the heart of the series is the tempestuous relationship between Margaret Hale, a young woman from a southern middle class family who finds herself uprooted to the north, and John Thornton, a formerly poverty-stricken cotton mill owner terrified of losing the viability of his business. Around them are class struggles between the workers and mill owners and ideological struggles between the industrial North and the agrarian South. After moving North, Margaret's father befriends his student Mr. Thornton. Margaret has already formed her opinion of Mr. Thornton independently after seeing him treat his workers harshly. As the series progresses, she and we the audience begin to learn that his strict treatment is due to an overarching concern for his mill and by extension, his employees. John Thornton, on the other hand, is attracted to Margaret's independence and position in society as a well-educated Southerner. As in 'Pride and Prejudice' the marriage proposal comes in the middle of the series and is rejected by Margaret. Contrary to 'Pride and Prejudice' it is mirrored in social upheaval as the entire town is brought to its knees by a strike. The latter half of the series is an unraveling of the former misunderstandings ending in a romantic reconciliation which is again mirrored by reconciliation between workers and mill owners.

Season 1
Episode #1.1 S1, Ep1 14 Nov. 2004

Margaret Hale, a 19-year-old lively young girl, and her parents leave the south, when her father Richard resigns as the clergy in Helstone on a matter of conscience. The family moves to Milton in the north of England where Mr. Hale starts working as a private tutor. Margaret and her mother find it difficult to adapt to the north. While Margaret tries to deal with her new home and thereby befriends Bessy Higgins and her father Nicholas, poor local mill workers, she becomes aware of the social inequalities.
Episode #1.2 S1, Ep2 21 Nov. 2004
BR>Maria Hale's health ceases and her daughter Margaret decides to contact her brother Frederick - who had to leave England years earlier due to a wrongful court decision. The mill workers in Milton go on strike. In order to get his orders done in time, Thornton hires Irish workers. The angry strikers hear of this and in an attempt to threaten Thornton they hurt Margaret. Overwhelmed by Margaret's openly apparent readiness to save him from the strikers, Thornton decides to propose to her.
Episode #1.3 S1, Ep3 28 Nov. 2004

Deeply hurt at the refusal of his marriage proposal, Thornton and Margaret's relationship becomes more tense and difficult. Just in time, Frederick comes home to visit his dying mother. Thornton mistakes him for Margaret's lover. As Margaret realizes that she might have been mistaken in her harsh and hasty criticism of Thornton, she has to sadly observe his opinion of her altering. Shortly after the death of her mother, Margaret's friend Bessy also dies.
Episode #1.4 S1, Ep4 5 Dec. 2004
Frederick safely reaches Spain. After her father's death, Margaret leaves Milton to live with her aunt in London. Thornton learns that Frederick is Margaret's brother. With the money that she inherited from Mr. Bell, her godfather, she decides to help Mr. Thornton's mill from closing.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 19 April, 2016.