The Scarlet Letter (1973)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The scarlet letter |
| Country of production |
Germany Spain |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wim Wenders |
| script | Wim Wenders Bernardo Fernádez based on a scenario by Tankred Dorst |
| production | PIFDA (Munich), WDR (Cologne), Elias Querejeta PC (Madrid) |
| music | Jürgen Knieper |
| camera | Robby Muller |
| cut | Peter Przygodda |
| occupation | |
| |
The Scarlet Letter is a German feature film from 1973 based on the novel of the same name (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne . Directed by Wim Wenders play Senta Berger and Hans Christian Blech , the leading roles.
action
North America, towards the end of the 17th century. Arch-Puritan and devout settlers have settled in Salem . They orient their lives completely according to orthodox Christian rules. Even the slightest violation of these rules has an enormous impact on the respective sinner. Year after year, the display of her alleged "shame" hits the young, beautiful Hester Prynne because she steadfastly refuses to explain who the father of her child, little Pearl, conceived in "dishonor" is. As the height of her humiliation, she has been forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest for the past seven years. This branding as a sign of adultery (in English: adultery) is the worst form of social ostracism.
Hester's husband has been lost on the high seas for years. When one day, contrary to expectations, he returned to the village community, things came to a head dramatically. The husband's name is Roger Chillingworth and is furious that his wife has obviously betrayed him while he was away. Chillingworth increases the pressure on Hester so much that she feels compelled to persuade the child's father, the village priest Reverend Dimmesdale, to leave here and flee to Europe. Chillingworth intuitively recognizes that the younger reverend must have attended his unfaithful wife, and now subtly builds up pressure against him. At the same time, Hester Prynne is gradually regaining the respect of her roommates, as their behavior is henceforth accepted as morally impeccable. But the “A”, last worn by her with pride, she no longer takes off. Finally, the pastor confesses his moral mistake and bares his chest in order to also reveal a sign of his branding. Then the ailing man of God dies. A little later he is followed by Chillingworth.
Production notes
The scarlet letter was filmed on several locations in Spain and Cologne from August to October 1972. The world premiere was on March 13, 1973 on ARD .
Peter Schamoni was the production manager, Peter Genée was the production manager. Joachim von Mengershausen and Volker Canaris took over the editing for the co-producing WDR. Manfred Lütz and Adolfo Cofiño provided the equipment, Carmen Marin provided the costumes. Martin Schäfer assisted chief cameraman Robby Müller .
Reviews
“The novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850, is about an adulteress in Puritan New England of the second generation of immigrants. Wenders has broken it down into calm and almost elegiac sequences; he presents the attitudes of the descendants of the Pilgrimfathers trapped in their moral categories and the self-assertion of the outcast Hester Prynne in a very cool and distant manner , but then revels in genre images, romantically rugged coastal landscapes and sunsets. The criticism of the repressive morality of this society is all too mixed up with a nostalgic look back at the founding of America. "
"Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) and a screenplay by Tankred Dorst, the young filmmaker Wim Wenders (" The Goalie's Fear at the Penalty ") has reconstructed the story of" a kind of forerunner of emancipation ". Senta Berger (photo) plays the mother of an illegitimate daughter who was pilloried as an adulteress in the American puritan town of Salem at the end of the 17th century because she did not want to reveal the name of the child's father, a pastor. "
“Rich in detail and trying to create a coherent atmosphere, the film remains strangely stiff and academic. Worth discussing as a contribution to dealing with the consequences of embittered Puritanism. "
“At the beginning of the 1970s, Senta Berger was rediscovered in Germany, two directors of the filmmaker generation (Volker Schlöndorff and Wim Wenders) engaged her for their works" The Moral of Ruth Halbfass "and" The Scarlet Letter "; there were films with which she could prove her potential as a convincing character interpreter. "
Wenders' next work also turned out to be unlucky, again based on a literary model, based on Hawthorne's novel “Scarlet Letter”; it seemed as if the director himself was surprised by the demands of the considerable effort. The scarlet letter (1972) has become Wenders' most impersonal work. "
"Coherent film adaptation of a classic."
Web links
- The Scarlet Letter in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The scarlet letter at filmportal.de
- The scarlet letter at the Wim Wenders Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ The scarlet letter. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .