The
Scarlet Letter (1995)
"'The Scarlet Letter' is really about the fear
men have of the feelings that women provoke in them.
I was so moved by the courage and integrity she had,
by the principles in which she believed. I thought I
would aspire to be Hester Prynne." - Demi Moore
Imagine if Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel had
never been written and this story first emerged in the
1980's as a Harlequin Romance novel and then you might
have some idea of what to make of this American version
of the story filmed by Roland Joffe and scripted by
Douglas Day Stewart. After the last of the opening credits,
a title screen informs us that this film version is
"Freely Adapted from the Novel..." No shit. This piece
has been incredibly reworked to include more sex, more
nudity, more Native American sequences and a happy ending.
You heard me right! A HAPPY ENDING!!!
I'm reading the "Cliff Notes" on Hawthorne's work
today because I saw the film yesterday. After watching
this yucky, glossy re-working, I just gotta know what
the real story is all about. The classic novel begins
with protagonist Hester Prynne receiving her condemnation
for being an adulteress from Puritanical society. They
force her to wear a red letter "A" on her clothing to
identify her as an adulteress. There are flashbacks
to her life with her husband in Amsterdam. This husband
is thought to be dead, but he arrives in town, after
a two year absence, just in time to see Hester get her
"A." He makes Hester promise not to tell anyone who
he is and he adopts the name Roger Chillingsworth. Meanwhile,
we realize that the townfolk deduced Hester was a sinner
when she bore a child, named Pearl during her husband's
absence. The father, we learn, is the town preacher
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. In the book, Pearl is an
obstinate child and she cries and whines a lot. Time
passes and Hester, who has been imprisoned, is released
and makes a living doing elaborate lace work for the
townspeople. Pearls' favorite toy, we learn, is the
"A" her mother wears on her chest. Meanwhile, Chillingsworth
gets to know Dimmesdale as the later's guilt has caused
him ill health and the former is a trained physician.
There is a side story of Pearl being a ungodly child
and she may be taken away from Hester by the local government
but Dimmesdale, a revered town leader, intervenes on
her behalf. Eventually, Chillingsworth, who is bent
on revenge, realizes who the father is and his suspicions
are proved out when Dimmesdale meets with Hester and
Pearl in the forest. Although Hester could have left
at any time after getting out of prison, she does not
wish to do so until Chillingsworth refuses to give up
on revenge and will not pardon the ailing Dimmesdale.
Hester and Dimmesdale plot to leave town. Dimmesdale
has second thoughts about leaving when a witch makes
it seem like this would be the equivalent to going into
league with the devil. The next day is Election day
and, as the government officials are a large part of
the story, Dimmesdale gives an impassioned sermon in
the town square. Hestor learns that Chillingsworth has
found out the plan of escaping and informs Dimmesdale.
He walks up onto the scaffolding at the town's center
and exposes himself to the townspeople as Pearl's father.
He opens his shirt to the audience and then dies. Many
in the crowd claim to see a stigmata in the form of
a blood red "A" on his chest. With no lust for revenge
to keep him alive, Chillingsworth also dies. He leaves
Pearl a great deal of money. Hester goes to England
for several years but later returns to Boston where
many women seek out her wisdom. When she dies, she is
buried next to Dimmesdale.
Well, the movie, although almost nothing like the
book, actually manages to work much of the same settings
and situations into the script. There are many characters
from the book although their emphasis has been shifted.
Dimmesdale and Hester also meet in the forest. Chillingsworth
is abducted by Indians, etc... But none of the situations
are exactly the same. This film throws the plot out
the window while keeping the characters and the sets
the same.
Here, the film starts with Hester (Demi Moore) arriving
in Salem. She sets about to make a place for her soon-to-
arrive husband. She is seen as a rather scandalous woman
because she is so forthright. A townsman tries to have
his way with her but she rebukes him. He looks a lot
like Gary Oldman, whom we all know is about to play
Dimmesdale. Before long Hester and Dimmesdale do meet
and flirt with one and other without knowing one is
married and one is a holy man. Almost immediately, they
confess a love for one and other but they do nothing
about it. When Oldman, in his duties as pastor to Hester,
informs her that her husband ship has been attacked
by savages upon landing in America and he is presumed
dead, the two make love erotically (and with low lighting)
in the barn even though Hester is supposed to wait 7
years before ending her mourning. Meanwhile, Hester's
servant, the black, mute Matooba, masturbates in Hester's
bathtub while a red bird watches her. (????) Hester
gets pregnant and is imprisoned when she will not tell
the name of her lover. She is considered an innocent
corrupted by a bad man. She has the baby in prison and
never repents. Feeling her punishment has gone on long
enough, one of the town's elders wants to free her but
he does not wish to appear soft on sin. His wife whispers
a plot to discredited Hester to him. Hester gets the
scarlet "A" as her husband (Robert Duvall) arrives.
He has been with the Indians. We have seen some of his
life there. Dimmesdale deals with the Indians and has
brought many to the town to become civilized. The townspeople
call these natives "the praying Indians. They fear a
war with the Indians whom they have made treaties with,
however. upon his arrival, Chillingsworth makes his
pact with Hester and gets to know Dimmesdale. Hester
has meet Mistress Hibbins (Joan Plowright) whom many
consider a witch. She hangs out with whores and fallen
women. Chillingsworth eventually makes trouble for Hester,
the rather quiet Pearl and for Hibbins. Chillingsworth
kills the townsman who looks like Oldman and scalps
him (remember he's lived with the Indians) when the
lusty man is coming back from Hester's house after once
again trying to rape her unsuccessfully. Dimmesdale
finds Chillingsworth's belongings next to the dead man
and is about to expose him as a murderer when he finds
the husband has hung himself. While all this is going
on, Dimmesdale's domesticated Indians are mistreated
as the townspeople fear that the other Indians are about
to come and start a war. They think it an Indian who
has killed the lusty townsman, remember. Also Hibbins,
Hester and several women are about to be hung as witches
when Dimmesdale stops the executions and speaks out
in their behalf. He exposes himself as Hester's lover
and implores the townspeople to hang him if they must
hang anyone. They are indeed about to hang him, the
noose is around his neck, when the marauding Indians
shoot an arrow into the hangman's neck. A full blown
battle erupts during which Dimmesdale saves Hester and
she saves Pearl from death. The townspeople later forgive
Hester but the trio end up leaving town anyway. The
grown Pearl's narration, which has popped up at times
in the film, tells us that Dimmesdale died when she
was four and her mother died some time later. The End!
The film is a piece of caca. There is no romance,
little passion, no moodiness, no gloom, no guilt, nothing.
It is emotionless tripe. Gone are Dimmesdale's guilt
and self- loathing. Here, the character has to struggle
with very little. Oldman shows us his pain by scraping
his bare palms against a ragged pole causing them to
bleed. Oldman is superb as always and he has some spark
with Moore, but eventually the story drags them down.
They only have actions - no emotions - to guide them.
Duvall is also stuck in a silly part that he has much
trouble with. He simply can't play a bad guy here. He
has no motivation. He is trotted into a Indian scene
and then into the story with little regard for meaning
or insight. He should be gripped with hatred and anger
but he is not. Why the scripter decides to stick to
Hawthorne's subdued nature here is unimaginable. Duvall's
only purpose seems to be to propel the lackluster plot.
Plowright has fun but her part means nothing. Roy Dotrice
looks right as a Puritan but he also has nothing to
do. The silly story simply overwhelms everyone. The
biggest let down is the use of Pearl as an integral
part of the story. the child used here is nothing more
than proof of Hester's sin. She could just as easily
disappear after her birth as stay to be trotted out
for one more plot point later in the film.
Director Roland Joffe is good at bringing us erotic
soft lighting. His work makes us think he's been doing
projects for the Playboy Channel prior to doing this
film. The sets and the costumes look right, but the
action and the speech are a bit out of place. All the
principles mix "you"s and "me"s with "thou"s and "thee"s.
It's all inaccurate tripe.
"The Scarlet Letter" might be enjoyable to those middle
aged women who buy endless Harlequin Romance products
but it left me bored, uninterested and only slightly
amused. Even the great Oldman had little luck enticing
me into the story. Eventually, it all seems silly. The
only good thing about this movie is that it made me
want to read the book just to find out how much Joffe
and Day Stewart fucked with the story. Apparently, they
fucked with it a lot!
Note: One line in the credits begs: "Read the Hyperion
Book!"
Director of Photography is Alex Thomson. Music by John
Barry. "Opening Titles and Native American Music by
Peter Buffett." Costumes Designed by Gabriella Pescucci.
The Hawthorne novel was published in 1850 and was
set in the 1600's. In the movie, the year Hester arrives
in America is given as 1666 (note the last 3 numbers).
In the original novel, Hawthorne included a preface
entitled "The Custom House" where he claimed to have
found a "foolscap" and a red embroidery "A" in his new
dwelling in Salem (hence the preface's title) which
inspired his novel. These have never been found by scholars.
Many believe Hawthorne was probably lying to intrigue
his readers. Many note that in a short story by Hawthorne
called "Endicott and the Red Cross," published some
nine years before he moved into the Custom's House,
a similar plot device is used.
American versions of the film include "The Scarlet
Letter" (1926), directed by Victor Seastrom and starring
Lilian Gish, and "The Scarlet Letter" (1934), directed
by Robert G. Vignola and starring Colleen Moore. Oddly,
both versions star Henry B. Walthall as Roger Prynne.
The Gish version is considered the superior of the two.
Also, there were several silent versions of the story
as well as a TV movie first aired in 1979. Foreign versions
include a German work lensed by Wim Wenders in 1972.
Review written in 1995
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