Product Description

As the daughter of a middle-class parson Margaret Hale has enjoyed a privileged upbringing in rural southern England. When her father uproots the family to take work in the northern mill town of Milton Margaret is shocked by the dirt the noise and the gruffness of the people but she reserves her highest contempt for the charismatic mill-owner John Thornton.Running Time: 233 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794051245328

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-11-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 233 minutes

Amazon.com
North & South is a splendid, four-hour adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel about an unlikely, and somewhat star-crossed, love between a middle-class young woman from England's cultivated south and an intemperate if misunderstood industrialist in a hardscrabble, northern city. Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale, forthright and strong-willed daughter of a former vicar (Tim Pigott-Smith) who relocates his family from a pastoral village outside London to unforgiving, largely illiterate Milton, a factory town where John Thornton (Richard Armitage) and his mother (Sinead Cusack), survivors of poverty, rule their cotton mill with an iron hand. Thornton befriends Margaret's father but incurs her wrath for his severity with his workers. What she doesn't notice is Thornton's core sense of responsibility for his employees' welfare. On the other hand, he misinterprets some of Margaret's own actions and intentions. Equally stubborn, the two drag out their obvious attraction over many painful months and events.

North & South's two leads are both very good, though Armitage's brooding, penetrating performance may very well be considered a classic one day. There are other wonders in the cast: Cusack and Pigott-Smith are superb, and Brendan Coyle is memorable as a firebrand union organizer who ultimately becomes an ally to a softening Thornton. The miniseries script by Sandy Welch is a persuasive mix of historical context and character study. Brian Percival's direction is full of moments that linger in the imagination, such as the winter-dream look of a busy cotton mill, with thousands of snowy fibers floating in the air. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

A great way to spend 4 hours.
For being period drama, this film adaptation more than any I've seen has something for everyone. The backdrop of worker reform the love story is set against brings so many things to the movie that make it hard to call North and South a love story.
North & South has something for everyone, rioting, suicide, murder mystery, worker unionizing and against all that, more marriage proposals and refusals, May-December romances, and some very funny comic relief in the character of Fanny Thornton.

North & South
Where has this been hiding? I have had possession of this video for about 3 weeks now and have watched it about 10 times!!! I can't stop watching!!! The story is wonderful and the cast is extraordinary. A must see for anyone who likes stories set in Great Britain.

great movie
This is a great movie! I think it is one of the best romances out there!