The Scarlet Letter (1995)

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Movie
German title The scarlet letter
Original title The Scarlet Letter
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1995
length 135 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Roland Joffé
script Douglas Day Stewart
production Dodi Fayed ,
Roland Joffé,
Andrew G. Vajna
music John Barry
camera Alex Thomson
cut Thom Noble
occupation
Advertising poster (excerpt)

The scarlet letter (original title: The Scarlet Letter ) is an American drama from 1995 . Directed by Roland Joffé , the screenplay was written by Douglas Day Stewart based on the novel of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne . The producer was Cinergi Pictures . The plot of the film differs from that of the novel in a few crucial respects.

action

Massachusetts in 1666: The devout Hester Prynne comes to the new colony to live out her faith freely. She met the distrust of the locals early on, as she is married, but her husband only wants to come with a later ship - against all the rules of the community, Hester therefore moves to her own house in an area that has remained uninhabited since an attack by Indians was. Hester is self-employed, buys workers and the silent slave Mituba, who helps her around the house. She befriends Harriet, who is considered a witch in the village .

Hester meets the young Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and falls in love with him. He loves her too, but both have to hide their feelings, as adultery is the death penalty . Hester's husband, Roger, a doctor, is on a ship attacked by Indians. The entire crew and all passengers are pronounced dead, even if many corpses washed into the sea and thus remain undetectable. When Hester learns that she has to observe seven years of mourning because of the unproven death of her husband and only then is allowed to enter into a new relationship, she sleeps with Arthur that same night. A little later she notices that she is pregnant, and a pious resident who is a thorn in Hester's side because of her daring religious views, reports her to the governor for adultery.

Hester refuses to name the child's father and is imprisoned. She remains in prison for over six months and gives birth to her daughter Pearl there. At Arthur's instigation, she is released, but must now always wear the red letter A (for “adultery” = “adultery”) on her clothes. While she is still being publicly branded, her husband Roger appears in town. He was not killed by the Indians, but trained as their medicine man. He reveals himself to Hester and announces that he will kill Pearl's secret father as soon as he gives himself away.

In the following weeks, a real witch hunt for Hester begins. She is mocked in the street and a drummer follows her everywhere. Roger, who has settled in town under the name Roger Chillingworth and with a new biography, is also bothering his wife. When Hester's girlfriend Harriet is arrested for witchcraft and Roger hears of rumors that Hester is also a witch, he has little Pearl searched for a witch's mark and finds it. In addition, he brutally murdered Mituba, who ate a letter from Arthur to Hester in front of his eyes, and presents her body as witchcraft. Hester manages to escape the court with Pearl. However, she does not want to leave town while Harriet's life is in danger, and is arrested as a witch along with other women.

Shortly before, a villager had tried to rape her in her hut. Roger, in turn, thought Arthur was with her. He murdered the man shortly afterwards and scalped him madly. Rioting broke out as the villagers suspected murder by Indians - all converted Indians were arrested. When Roger realizes his mistake, he hangs himself. At the trial of the women, Arthur stands in front of Hester and explains that he is the father of their child and that he loves her. He offers to be hanged instead of the women. Before this can be done, the alarmed Indians appear in the village, free the captured Indians and thus enable the women and Arthur to escape.

Arthur, Hester and Pearl are later seen at Roger's grave. Hester wants to leave because the dream of freedom in Massachusetts has not come true. Arthur walks with her and demonstratively kisses her while driving through the village. Pearl took the patch with the red "A" and threw it away a little later.

Difference from the book

In the book, Hester lives on in her hometown. She will never discard the letter, but the attitude of the residents towards her changes. Through her impeccable life, Hester becomes a person of respect whose proximity and advice is sought. In the film, she escapes the city with Arthur.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times of October 13, 1995 that the events leading to adultery were portrayed in the style of the videos in the Playboys Fantasies series . There are numerous differences between the novel - the plot of which mainly plays in the heads of the characters - and the film. Among other things, the characters' sense of guilt, which made up the drama, is lost (“The movie has removed the character's sense of guilt, and therefore the story's drama”).

The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was "a remake of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel that was turned upside down in content and form, the nuanced portrayal of Puritanism being transformed into a story of emancipation with a soap opera character."

Cinema magazine wrote that the fifth film version of the novel had "little in common" with it. The leading actress and producer Demi Moore use it as an "emancipatory thesis"; the main character stands “beyond the historical details” “as a feminist model case for a woman's fate under chauvinist repression”. In this way "the 17th century becomes a reflection of the present and the Hawthorne heroine Hester is in the end a woman who just wants to find herself". This is "pretty simple".

Awards

Roland Joffé and Andrew G. Vajna received the Golden Raspberry in 1996 in the worst remake / worst sequel category . The six other nominations for the Golden Raspberry included those in the worst film category , for direction, for the screenplay and for Demi Moore and Robert Duvall.

The film was nominated in 1996 for the Political Film Society Awards in the categories Political Film Society Award for Human Rights and Political Film Society Award for Peace . Demi Moore was nominated for the MTV Movie Award in 1996.

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.

backgrounds

The film was shot in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Nova Scotia . Its production amounted to an estimated 50 million US dollars . The film grossed approximately $ 10.4 million in US cinemas. A first version of the soundtrack was recorded by Ennio Morricone . This music was discarded and Elmer Bernstein was commissioned as composer. Finally, John Barry wrote the score at Demi Moore's instigation .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert, accessed January 21, 2008
  2. ^ The scarlet letter in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed January 21, 2008
  3. ↑ Cinema, accessed January 21, 2008
  4. ↑ Filming locations for The Scarlet Letter, accessed January 21, 2008
  5. ^ Box office / business for The Scarlet Letter, accessed January 21, 2008