North and South

First, Kristina has been prodding me for the last year to post on the blog and I haven't made the time until the last few days. So, the flavor of the blog might change a bit as I insert my nugatory comments...consider yourselves warned!

OK, that being said I have an admission to make. I am a fan of Jane Austen type movies. For some reason, those sappy period pieces really draw me in. (It's a good thing that this post is preceded by a soccer post, otherwise the emasculation would be a bit overwhelming.) It all started when my Grandmother had me watch Little Women, and then my mom followed it up with Sense and Sensibility. Since then I have seen, and worse, enjoyed a number of these types of movies, including both versions of Pride and Prejudice. The catch is that I balk when they are presented to me. It took Kristina almost a year to get me to watch Pride and Prejudice and when she finally got it in the DVD player I stayed up through the night to finish off all five hours.

Well, this last week while Kristina was gone with the kids in NC visiting family and attending her grandfather's funeral I found myself devoid of things to watch on TV. So I went through our DVD collection and discovered that the only movie that we have that I hadn't seen was one of these English period pieces, called North and South. My mom had brought it over for her and Kristina to watch and, as usual, I refused to watch the thing. Since that time Kristina has "suggested" that I see it a number of times and even summarized the book to me. So, given that she was gone and I really needed some type of background noise while I did other things....I put the DVD in and hit play. Four hours later, at 2 a.m., I finished and I found it to be engrossing.

The interesting thing about the story is that it is both a Pride and Prejudice type love story and an interesting look at unions in the early industrial period. The movie captures the union vs. employer dynamic without being overly harsh or attempting to glorify a particular social class.

If you like Pride and Prejudice I would recommend seeing North and South. Also, if you are one of the people with whom I have conversed on the subject of unions, or fair wages, then you should take the time to watch it.

If your top ten list contains any early Schwarzenegger flicks, or you consider the Scorpion King to be an ideal first date movie (You know who you are!), then stay away from this DVD...because it won't end well for you.