The Scarlet Letter (1995)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Roland Joffé

Writers (WGA):

Nathaniel Hawthorne (novel)
Douglas Day Stewart (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When intimacy is forbidden and passion is a sin, love is the most defiant crime of all.

Plot:

In 1666 in the Massachusetts Bay colony, Puritans and Algonquian have an uneasy truce. Hester arrives from England...

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Quaker | Massachusetts | Adultery | 1600s

Awards:

1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Demi Moore	...	Hester Prynne
Gary Oldman	...	Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
Robert Duvall	...	Roger Chillingworth
Lisa Joliffe-Andoh	...	Mituba
Edward Hardwicke	...	Gov. John Bellingham
Robert Prosky	...	Horace Stonehall
Roy Dotrice	...	Rev. Thomas Cheever
Joan Plowright	...	Harriet Hibbons
Malcolm Storry	...	Maj. Dunsmuir
James Bearden	...	Goodman Mortimer (as Jim Bearden)
Larissa Laskin	...	Goody Mortimer
Amy Wright	...	Goody Gotwick
George Aguilar	...	Johnny Sassamon
Tim Woodward	...	Brewster Stonehall
Joan Gregson	...	Elizabeth Cheever

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34090) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 (f) (bw) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Oyster River, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Allied Stars Ltd.

Trivia:

Nicholas Rice is credited as playing the clerk, but the role was actually played by someone else.

Quotes:

Hester Prynne: I have dreamed of speaking my heart, I have prayed for it even as I have dreaded it. Was I alive before I laid eyes on thee?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Lara Flynn Boyle/Bon Jovi (#26.19)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Agnus Dei

A Stunning Adaptation

For starters, I have read Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, both for high school and personal enjoyment, and I absolutely loved the novel, but most high school students would disagree with my view of the novel. When seeing this film, one must remember the phrase "freely adapted from," because that's what it is. Things are changed, yes, but that doesn't stop this movie from being wonderful. The movie gives background to the Hester/Dimmesdale romance that Hawthorne left in the background, and so beings the tale to life and makes it more understandable to the modern population. Depsite its inaccuracies and liberal use of literary lisence, the movie is a hypothetical "What if?" It asks what would have happened had Dimmesdale come forward, had Pearl been a more congenial, innocent character, and had the Indian troubles played more of a part in Hawthorne's work. As Dimmesdale, Oldman performs marvelously, depicting the tortured soul of the Puritan priest in love with a strong, undaunted woman. This movie is a must see for all the historical romance lovers out there as well as those who need a reprieve from Hawthorne's often long and difficult prose. Just don't use it to pass your tests; that's what Sparknotes are for...