"Sparkhouse" is not a straight adaptation of "Wuthering Heights". It is as if the characters had read Brontë's novel (like ill-fated lovers Carol and Andrew do at the beginning) and the plot and events kept reappearing uncannily in their own lives. I watched this TV-series as part of my PhD research some years ago and I must confess I was not enjoying it at first. I thought that the depiction of Carol as a 21st century female Heathcliff was brilliant (and wonderfully played by Sarah Smart). However, I was feeling let down by the two male roles, played by two actors I had never seen before. Andrew (Joe MacFadden, doing his best with a thankless role) was not convincing as modern male Cathy. While one could sympathise with the lack of options of Brontë's heroine (a 19th century woman), Andrew (a 21st century man) came across as an insufferably weak mummy's boy. Shy farmhand John was nicer but... what a clumsy scruff! I rolled my eyes at every one of his stammering attempts to woo Carol.
That, until the scene where John got the haircut. Then, my jaw literally fell to the floor. I pictured myself kicking Andrew's back and shouting "Move over!". It was then when I discovered that John was played by a certain Mr. Richard Armitage (already stealing the show in his debut), on whom I have had a crush ever since. I immediately felt bad about myself. While now I could not get enough of him (I desperately wanted Carol to love him), I had not thought he deserved a second look till he became handsome. I realised how easy it was to become Isabella Linton while thinking you were Cathy all along, how easy it was to judge by appearances instead of looking inside the soul. I feel better by thinking Cathy daughter made the same mistake in Brontë's novel. Her anger did not let her see the wonderful guy she had in front (Hareton, a character with whom John has been compared).
Praises to Sally Wainwright for writing the all the roles so well and praises to Richard Armitage for playing John so well. He is one of those actors who use all the body in their performances, even the most insignificant detail: the way Carol pulls him by the hand while he drags his feet, head down, perfectly defines their relation. It seems incredible that he is the same person who went to play smouldering John Thornton and villain Guy of Gisborne (attention to a cute scene in "Sparkhouse" with then twelve year-old Holliday Grainger, years later his love interest in "Robin Hood"). Let's hope "The Hobbit" makes him the star he deserves to be.
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