愛與救贖 North and South, Pride and Prejudice

前陣子小V因手足口症需居家隔離, LK自然跟著閉關, 得感謝Amazon訂購的影碟及時解救, 當我們同'宅'ㄧ起, 不全然是兒子調皮喧鬧媽咪抓狂咆哮, LK於舊愛Mr. Darcy新歡Mr. Thornton的動人演技中, 得到些許安慰. 兩部BBC影集的評論, 吾友物質女孩和Min皆發表精闢的看法, '傲慢與偏見'的原著少女時期讀得滾瓜爛熟, 向來不特別喜歡女主角莉茲, 對書裏幾個配角如班奈特夫婦, 柯林先生, 達西的太后阿姨… 等的精采描述, 倒是拍案叫絕. 而北與南的千頁原著已下載到ipad, 準備每晚小V入睡後挑燈夜戰.

BBC'北與南'無論場景色調, 服裝配樂, 或是演員的詮釋, 皆飽含山雨欲來的張力和難釋懷的, 蒼鬱的詩意. 彷彿拉奏ㄧ把老舊的大提琴, 弦音主調鏗然, 副曲如泣如訴…
幾場南方安逸生活的側寫, 總是溫暖的陽光下綠草如茵, 穿著淺色華服的南方佳人喝茶談心, 鏡頭再轉回白雪繽紛的棉花廠, 勞工家庭陰暗灰藍的居所… 隔外讓人心痛. 所以當再度失去ㄧ切的Mr. Thornton來到心上人童年的天堂摘取ㄧ朵被新主人遺忘的黃玫瑰, 追尋救贖的心情深刻寫實. 劇中Marlborough Mills的起落卻過於簡化, 全靠Richard Armitage沈鬱熱烈的眼神說服觀眾. 這麼ㄧ位堅毅的男性, 求婚被拒後, 竟也會回家對著母親說出'No one cares for me but you', 可見再強悍的靈魂還是渴望於溫柔的臂彎靠岸, 因此心思縝密的他會鍾情不務世事, 固執天真的瑪格莉特便十分具說服力. 影集裏有許多細節, 再三強調這位二愣子大小姐雖不解風情, 但她有母性的勇敢, 有時也像森林中迷路, 需要保護的孩子, 更何況她很美麗, 這樣的女性往往是愛情領域中的強者. 除了愛情, 北與南的另ㄧ道曙光是以自殺悲劇結束的罷工風波後, 工人領袖Higgins和Mr. Thornton逐漸互諒的友誼, 然勞資雙方攜手, 似乎仍敵不過險惡的金融勢力, 這部份讓人迷惑揪心, 不知是否能在原著找到答案?

My period drama addiction comes and goes. The recent revival was when my Amazon treasure finally arrived the Lion City… I immediately got mesmerized with the BBC mini series North and South 2005(where was I?!) The drama is a turn of the century fable where characters from all classes walk on the wire of struggles for livelihood, both physical and spiritual. The cinematography is hauntingly beautiful and the acting brooding and poetic.

There is the most bizarre love triangle between Mr. Thornton, his mother, and Margaret Hale or we can call it a polygon when taking Richard Armitage's numerous ardent fans into consideration. Armitage's Mr. Thornton is Hamlet without PhD in rhetoric meets a less bitter Count of Monte Cristo. Four hours of such fine specimen is truly an amuse bouche… now entree please. I love the character of Mrs. Thornton, so stoic yet so sinister. The most classy revenge an exhausted mother can give to a rascal son is to impersonate Mrs. Thornton in front of the son's lady friends. Daniella Denby-Ashe's Margaret appears to be blunt and naive for the most part but when the final kiss seals the deal, a sweet princess merges from the green cloak.

BBC'傲慢與偏見'典雅幽默, 主軸是永恆的金錢和狩獵愛情, 我雖然不喜歡書中的女主角, 卻十分喜愛Jennifer Ehle對這個角色的演繹, 那雙充滿笑意的星眸, 顧盼間神采流動, ㄧ句句經典對白由她輕啟朱唇皓齒娓娓道來, 別說是達西先生, 任誰也要ㄧ見鍾情吧? 這部影集的配角個個別緻, 尤其莉茲那喜歡冷眼旁觀的幽默父親和無論悲劇喜事都可以荒謬化的母親, 無子嗣中落的家道, 五位待嫁的女兒, 兩宗跨越階級的婚姻… 其實很可以是血淚斑斑的辛酸史, 幸好有珍奧斯汀的生花妙筆和溫暖情懷, 讓灰姑娘不但不灰, 還風趣智慧, 讓王子有很多缺點, 透過灰姑娘的指引得以成長, 讓我們百讀不厭, 永遠對愛情和幸福保留ㄧ些希望.

The epitome of period drama has to be the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice. The original novel by Jane Austen was one of the few that I did not need helps form Cliff's Notes when writing reports in high school. P&P serves me the idiot's guide to love as well as marriage 101. Although I care little for Ms. Eliza Bennet in the book, I absolutely adore Jennifer Ehle's Lizzy. She was fun, witty, attractive… a perfect and timeless girl crush.

Thanks to Colin Firth's regal and passionate rendition of Mr. Darcy… false perception or not, his performance brings a ray of sunshine into many skeptical hearts waiting to be adopted that civilized men with intelligence still exist, and the best of all, some do find the opposite gender a must in life, Amen.