North and South - Mr. Darcy watch out!

I NEVER thought I'd be saying this, but Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy now has some serious competition.

I was reading something online about Pride and Prejudice and noticed some people making comparisons to another BBC miniseries from back in 2004, called North and South. I'd never heard of it nor the novel it's based on (by Elizabeth Gaskell) but my curiosity was piqued, so I immediately added and bumped both discs to the top of my Netflix queue and watched the 4 hour-long episodes this week.

And it was INCREDIBLE.

The story follows a similar pattern as Pride and Prejudice, but the settings and motivations and tone is completely different. The story follows Margaret Hale, a minister's daughter from the privileged south of England, who moves with her family to the industrial town of Milton, in the north. She soon gets mixed up in the affairs of the town's cotton mills and one of the owners, John Thornton, who also becomes a friend of her father's. There's a good dose of social consciousness here, and none of the silly humor that Austen novels usually include. The story is actually quite grim, with the cotton industry and mill workers and strikes as the backdrop, but the romance aspect of the story keeps it from being too depressing. Most of the series is shot very dark in general, but with really beautiful cinematography. And the score is really haunting and wonderful also.

And the romance...sigh, the romance! Maybe because I feel like I've been so familiar for so long with all of Austen and Bronte and all that, but watching this new story was just phenomenal. And usually I'm all for reading the novel before watching the movie but in this case it was really great to be able to watch it all play out without having any idea of what was coming. The last scene was so wonderful that it gave me goosebumps and I immediately rewatched it a couple more times! I am so buying this on DVD ASAP. (And Mira, I'm so going to make you watch it!)

So who could possibly be hotter than Colin Firth? Richard Armitage, apparently! His Mr. Thornton is so intense, so smoldering, that I was practically squealing every time he appeared onscreen. He's a self-made man, charistmatic, hard working, practical, and respected among his peers, but has a temper and first appears as a somewhat harsh and driving master. But as the story moves along he shows a more sympathetic side and you really understand how Margaret eventually falls in love with him. And man, this probably sounds ridiculous, but he was SO HOT in those billowing white sleeves and cravats and top hats. HOT I tell you!

Man, what is it with me and British period dramas and their brooding romantic heroes??

On a related note, I will be on vacation in the UK next week so there will be no posts while I'm gone. I know, I know, it's May sweeps and next week are upfronts and I'll be missing everything but I'm sure you'll all survive without me...