2010 Retrospective Thingy: Richard Armitage

North & South.

North & South.

North & South.

My favorite bloggers were talking about this BBC film, posting pictures of a handsome man, tempting me with talk about how wonderfully romantic North & South was. I drove myself crazy for weeks trying to track down a copy. And when I finally did…I was, quite simply, in love. With both the man and the film.

To say that I then devoured the man’s body of work would be an understatement. I instantly craved everything he’d ever done: film, serial shows, audiobooks, Cbeebies. Everything. And I got my hands on all of it as quickly as possible. My adoration grew with each new thing. And adoring Richard Armitage yielded more benefits than I imagined; he brought new, virtual friends into my life, and gave me something to rhapsodize over with those I was already blessed with. With his upcoming roles in Captain America and The Hobbit, they’ll be plenty more to talk about, I’m sure.

Crushes – The Obvious

In my previous post on crushes, I talked about my Classic crush: Gregory Peck. This time around it’s going to be about the crushes that are rather Obvious; the literary men that women worldwide have pinned many dreams on, men who are so appealing partly because women picked up their pens and made them so. Well, that, and they’re very, very easy on the eyes. I’m talking, in no particular order…

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton, and Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley.

I’ve yet to meet a woman who wasn’t somehow, in some way, affected by Colin Firth in a wet shirt, strolling the grounds of Pemberley. Me? That wet shirt was all well and good, but he wouldn’t have gotten to me if not for the gaze he leveled on Elizabeth as she played the piano and sang for an otherwise mostly unappreciative audience. What was even in that look? Longing? Admiration? Warmth? Whatever it was composed of, the combination was heady. And it kept me coming back for more. Now, I know there have been other Darcy’s, but for me, Colin is the one.

I’ve already posted about Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton, but how could I not mention him here, again? How is it possible that I went through so many years not knowing about this movie, this character, this man? I’ve certainly been making up for lost time recently, but I’ll always remember that it started with North and South and four painfully beautiful words: “Look back at me.”

There’ve been other Mr.Knightley’s, and recently at that, but in my eyes there is only one: Jeremy Northam. To be honest, I can’t tell you if the rest of that adaptation of Emma was successful because Northam held my exclusive attention. That last proposal scene, oh, I’ve watched it over and again, and I never tire of his hesitance or the ridiculously sweet arch of his eyebrow (which he also used well as Ash in Possession.)

How about you? Do you have any Obvious crushes? Once again, name drop in the comments!

A Brief Post on Mr. Thornton

For some time now it seemed I couldn’t turn around without tripping over mention of the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South and, more particularly, Richard Armitage.

My library did not own it, of course, because I wanted to watch it so badly see, and so I put a request for it in at another library. And then I waited. Waited. Days stretched into a week, more, and my impatience got the better of me. Several stores later, I was the proud owner of North & South. Yesterday I finally got to watch it.

And I’m so very glad so many wonderful bloggers wouldn’t stop talking about it.

In Rhiannon’s post, she states: “It takes a woman, of course, to write a man we will all fall so violently in love with.” It’s true, and I was just having a similar discussion with a co-worker (though we were discussing Sara Donati’s Nathaniel Bonner.) And yet it takes the right man to pull off what the woman has written. Richard Armitage was definitely the right man.

There were so many scenes I could mention. And while he brooded with the best of them, it was the quiet, more vulnerable moments that crept into my heart. I’m thinking of the scene with his mother, where he has crouched down in front of her, denying with heartbreaking surety what she has said about Margaret. The way he searches his mother’s face to determine if what she said could possibly be true. The barest hint of a smile that is gone almost before you realize it was there to begin with. So many sigh-worthy scenes.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that also highly enjoyable was Brendan Coyle’s portrayal of Nicholas Higgins. In fact, I quite loved the scenes he shared with Armitage, especially towards the end. Begrudging trust between two strong men has its own charm.

As I type this, actually, I’m rewatching favorite scenes. (Currently the scene at the train station. She’s just gotten up from the bench and he’s killing me with his expression as he watches her walk away.)

So, thank you to all you wonderful bloggers who left this one laying around for me trip over. I most definitely appreciate it.