The Scarlet Letter (1995)

I am an English major and have to say, yes, the book was better and this film is not equal but by itself as a "freely adapted" version it too has merit. It has a beautiful score by excellent film composer John Barry, superb acting by both Gary Oldman and Demi Moore (as a woman way ahead of her time) and even excellent supporting cast. It is beautifully filmed and on its own - is a rare romantic treat that would be great in a double feature with say "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" w/ Daniel Day Lewis. Oldman is terrific...his best role I believe. The only distraction....the always wonderful Robert Duvall as a madman...who starts to stray this film toward THE CRUCIBLE area of witchcraft.

Fmovies: First, I apologies because my English, I'm from Panama. Second, for me, TSL is a very beautiful movie and I know that it is far from the book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, nevertheless, I found nice things there, for instance, the setting was so refreshing to me and the love scenes were very romantic too. In this movie I felt in love to Gary Oldman. I consider that Demi as well as Gary were chemistry. On the other hand, I think that the producer and the whole team portrait the epoch of the pilgrims, the way they lived and thought about morality and religion. Demi was pretty in this character and convincing. For me this was a sad story of love. Although, the screenplay changed at the end, I found that this movie was done to give audience happier than the original book.

You could try to imagine a worse film, but why bother? As a film and as an adaptation ("freely adapted" is perhaps the greatest understatement since our involvement in Vietnam was labeled a "police action") of a book, it's a complete failure. The acting ranges from the clueless to the atrocious. Gary Oldman is apparently trying to do a Scottish accent, Demi Moore is just plain terrible, and Robert Duvall is nuts. The soft-glow sex scene is risible. There's no tension to the story because Oldman & Moore don't appear to have souls to lose. Instead of a perceptive & morally soaked tale of guilt, sin, and conscience, this is a trite, gushy story about being true to yourself. It's basically a Disney cartoon message, except without as sophisticated a presentation. The script (it's idea of 17th century English is lots of thees & thous) is as bad as everything else, substituting a nick of time rescue happy ending for Hawthorne's. So bad that it's not even enjoyable on a camp level. C-R-A-P.

The Scarlet Letter fmovies. I must inform you that that Roland Joffé has utterly bastardized Nathaniel Hawthorne's work with this film, but I find I must review the film as a film, rather than an adaptation due to the strength of the film itself in comparison to the original literary work. As an adaptation, it is a sexed-up, stylized-down piece of detritus. But as a film...

This work stands alone, as it will not bear up under scrutiny when compared against Hawthorne, but aside from that, this "based on" work is a fabulous dramatization of Hawthorne's story. I have to say the performances are marvelous, the story is captivating, and the emotion of the portrayals is wrenching.

I highly enjoyed this bastardization, and rate it at a 7.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

For my point of view "The Scarlet Letter" is a good film with great performancesÂ… All the actors do a superb jobÂ… I was worried that Demi Moore might not have the range to handle the role of Mistress Prynne, but she is excellent... She is strong, passionate, intelligent and damagedÂ… In another place and time she might have been a leader; in this movie she is quite believable as the woman who defends her love at all costsÂ… Gary Oldman looks perfect as Reverend DimmesdaleÂ… He projects force and sexual magnetism along with the guilt for his sinÂ…

The film opens in 1666 when Hester Prynne (Demi Moore) arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony filled with hope that here, at last, in this new World, would come the freedom to worship without fear or persecutionÂ… She didn't suspect that beyond the trees there is a savage land of savage passions dark and untamed, and that soon she will face a scornful community in which she will forever be shamed by the scarlet letterÂ…

Mistress Prynne rejected the idea of staying in the congregation until her husband's arrival and looked for a house of her ownÂ… She finds a beautiful and frightening place, just as 'Eden must have been so untouchedÂ…'

On one Sabbath morning, Hester met Reverend Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman) who helps her when her cart got stuck in the woodsÂ… She truly enjoyed, few minutes later, his sermon Â… It was rare, for her, to find a man so young and fiery who could speak with such force of passionÂ… She was moved by his passionÂ…

Dimmesdale thought that comprehending God was going to be his greatest challenge, but—after he met Hester—he was not the man he seems to be… He lost his power before this seductress beautiful woman… He lived in this township his whole life and his purpose was clear… But now he would risk everything—his life, his ministry, his soul—just to spend a few moments alone with her… After he asked her why that morning in the forest, she didn't say that she is married, he wondered how she were able to see so deeply into his nature…

From that moment, two hearts were there struggling against a love that grew stronger with each passing dayÂ…

Hester was courteous enough but her tongue knew no rulesÂ… She earned more than a few reprimands in her life for speaking too bluntlyÂ… With a frightening strength, she challenged her persecutors and stood up to their hypocrisy, refusing to reveal her lover's identityÂ…

"The Scarlet Letter" compels us to recognize the shadow side of our lives, including this passion that pushes us beyond our limits... The climax also compels us to contemplate about whether there is anything that we would be willing to die forÂ…

I just caught this movie on cable. Eager to see a film version of the Hawthorne book I was, Very Disappointed. It is sad that some people will think that this is the real Scarlet Letter. The names of characters are the same as the book but it rapidly departs from the book beyond that -- and for the worse.

You will read commentaries here about what a wonderful film this was with discussions of the beautiful cinematography and great acting. They will also say how it is "loosely adapted" from Hawthornes' book. These are all true statements and the "loose" in loosely should be especially emphasized. I even agree that normally an adaption might be judged on its own merits.

So why did I give this a low score?

Because it is titled "The Scarlet Letter". That is a classical book with some very deep moral messages. The very term "Scarlet Letter" has taken on a special meaning in our language and culture. But, if someone recognizes what Hawthorne was trying to do with his book, they will immediately see this as a rotten-to-the-core script. Consider: the Scarlet Letter, a central theme in the book and holding so much meaning, is just a minor prop in this movie that almost gets in the way.

In Hawthorne's book, the heroine, by her actions through life, turned the Scarlet Letter from meaning "Adulteress" to meaning "Angel" -- it became an emblem of her inner beauty, redeemed through her strength, integrity and good heart. In our own time, people often find themselves "labeled" or identified in some way as bad or as a loser. What a great thing it is to have messages that say "You can rise above that!". This movie completely and totally misses that opportunity. It is one of the great messages that can be given to others in this life, and it is abandoned in this movie.

And what is it traded for? Feminism, rebellion and justifications of immorality. Edgy? Groundbreaking? Incisive? No. So shallow its like cliff diving in a birdbath compared with what Hawthorne brought. In this adaptation, Hester, the heroine claims to not know if what she did was wrong -- or sometimes suggesting it was right. From that high moral ground, Hester almost becomes a feminist warrior or icon leading an insurrection of women against men. That rebellion is ridiculous historically but worse, it completely guts the morality of the book. And the Scarlet Letter? From what I can tell, the movie Hester seems to finally throw it away when she gets her freedom. It has no meaning other than as a talisman for oppression.

That is a different message than the book gave out. But the Movie is still called "The Scarlet Letter". If the screenwriter wanted to send out a different moral message, then he should have retitled the movie. Something like "Hester's Anachronistic and Pointless Rebellion" would have been good. Then it would be truth in advertising.

The actors and technicians did a great job but after reading the script they should have dropped the project. I suppose they needed the money. Beautifully shot, well acted, great score ... it still gets a "1" for being an egregious lie.