这不是一部众所周知的作品,但是遇上了,就不应错过。
《南方与北方》是19世纪英国著名小说家Elizabeth Gaskell(伊丽莎白·盖斯凯尔夫人)的作品。2004年,BBC经典原著改编系列把它搬上了银幕,顿时收获赞美无数。从口碑来说,在众多BBC经典改编系列剧中,它是唯一能与1995年版《傲慢与偏见》抗衡的。巧的是,故事中主人公的感情发展历程,从偏见开始,到求婚失败,到误会产生,再到最终冰释前嫌,也与《傲慢与偏见》有诸多相似之处,因此有人这么评价它:这是一部工业革命时期的“傲慢与偏见”。 
然而这样的评价未免有失偏颇。《南方与北方》有别于其他描写英国田园式生活及爱情的小说,它着眼于工业革命时期的社会状态,描绘出一个社会进步、改革过程中地区之间的差异、阶级的纷争、意识形态的差别等等,而这些因素,也不断地影响着男女主人公爱情的发展。
通常名著改编的影视作品都因难以再现原著精髓而广受诟病,但在我看来,BBC版的《南方与北方》却是一部足以媲美甚至可以超越原著的作品。它磅礴大气又不失细腻优雅,人物形象塑造得饱满生动,而剧情之间的巧妙穿插和安排,都更加凸显故事性。另外不得不提的是,剧中的配乐荡气回肠,让人印象深刻。
本期“影视派对”特别截取了这部系列剧的几个片段,希望大家能从这些优雅又富有情感的对话中,感受这场十九世纪爱情的味道,也感受其中浓厚的文化韵味。特别值得提出的是,片中男主角约翰·桑顿操着一口典型英国北方口音:语速快、多连音、多卷舌;而女主角玛格丽特·豪尔则是字正腔圆、抑扬顿挫的英国南方口音。
偏见 Argument on North and South
剧情梗要:不是每一个爱情故事都源于一次愉悦的相遇。玛格丽特·豪尔跟随父母离开休闲舒适的英格兰南方,来到工业重镇—位于英格兰北方的米尔顿。她与工厂主约翰·桑顿的首次相遇便是在棉絮纷飞的工厂里。其时桑顿先生正因某个在工厂里吸烟的工人而大发脾气,他大打出手并毫不留情地开除了那位工人。这一切被玛格丽特看在眼里,记在心上。一个工业革命时期 “傲慢与偏见”式的故事正式拉开帷幕。
发音：英式发音
语速：130词/分钟
使用方法：精听+模仿
Mr. Hale: Mr. Thornton has been admiring our newly redecorated rooms, Maria.
Mrs. Hale: Oh. Yes, Mr. Thornton. Well, there wasn't a great deal of choice, but these papers are of a similar shade to our drawing room in Helstone. But not quite.
Mr. Thornton: Well, on behalf of Milton taste, ①I'm glad we've almost passed muster.
Mrs. Hale: Yes. Yes, well...clearly, you're very proud of Milton. My husband admires its energy and its...its people are very busy making their businesses successful.
Mr. Thornton: I won't deny it. I'd rather be 1)toiling here, success or failure, than leading a dull, prosperous life in the South, with their slow, careless days of ease.
Margaret Hale: You are mistaken. You don't know anything about the South. It…it may be a little less energetic in its pursuit of competitive trade, but then there is less suffering than I've seen in your mills. And all for what? 
Mr. Thornton: We make cotton.
Margaret: Which no one wants to wear.
Mr. Thornton: I think that I might say that you do not know the North. We masters are not all the same, whatever your 2)prejudice against Milton men and their ways.
Margaret: I've seen the way you treat your men. You treat them as you wish, because they are beneath you.
Mr. Thornton: No, I do not.
Margaret: You've been blessed with good luck and fortune, but others have not.
Mr. Thornton: I do know something of hardship. 16 years ago, my father died in very miserable circumstances. I became the head of the family very quickly. I was taken out of school. I think that I might say that my only good luck was to have a mother of such strong will and 3)integrity. I went to work in a 4)draper's shop, and my mother managed so that I could put three shillings aside a week. That taught me self-denial. Now I'm able to keep my mother in such comfort as her age requires, and I thank her every day for that early training. So, Miss Hale, I do not think that I was especially blessed with good fortune or luck. (Pause) ②I have outstayed my welcome.
Mr. Hale: Oh, no, John.
Mr. Thornton: Come, Miss Hale, ③let us part friends despite our differences. If we become more familiar with each other's traditions, we may learn to be more tolerant, I think. (Mr. Thornton offers his hand but Margaret doesn't shake it.)
豪尔先生:桑顿先生很喜欢我们重新装饰的房间,玛丽亚。
豪尔夫人:噢,是吗?桑顿先生。其实选择面不是很宽,这些墙纸很像我们在赫尔斯通的客厅的墙纸,但也不完全像。
桑顿先生:我代表米尔顿说,我很高兴我们的品味水准能达到你们的要求。
豪尔夫人:是的,是的,嗯……显然,你很为米尔顿自豪。我丈夫喜爱它的活力和它的……这里的人都忙碌于追求他们事业的成功。
桑顿先生:我不否认。我宁愿在这里辛劳工作,无论成功与否,也不愿过南方那种富裕慵懒的生活,无所事事地打发时间。
玛格丽特·豪尔:你错了。你对南方的生活一无所知。它……它也许没有那么急功近利,但也没有我在你工厂所见到的苦难。那有什么意义?
桑顿先生:我们制造棉花。
玛格丽特:但没人愿意穿。
桑顿先生:我想我得说你也不了解北方。不管你对我们米尔顿人或者米尔顿方式有什么偏见,我们工厂主也不是千人一面的。
玛格丽特:我看到你是怎样对待自己的工人的。你随心所欲地对待他们,只因他们地位低下。
桑顿先生:不,我没有。
玛格丽特:你含着金钥匙出生,而其他人没有。
桑顿先生:我知道生活的艰苦。16年前,我父亲去世,当时情况相当凄惨。我很快成为一家之主,必须辍学。我得说我唯一幸运之处就是拥有一位如此坚强正直的母亲。我去一个布商的商店工作,我母亲让我每星期省出3先令,让我学会了自我克制。现在我可以让母亲安享晚年,我每一天都感谢她的循循教导。所以,豪尔小姐,我并不觉得我生下来就含着金钥匙。(停顿)我该告辞了。
豪尔先生:噢,不,约翰。
桑顿先生:来吧,豪尔小姐,不管我们如何意见相左,都可以成为朋友。如果我们对彼此的传统更加了解,我想我们会对彼此更宽容。(桑顿先生伸手想与玛格丽特握手,但她回避了。)