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:

The girls who play infant Pearl and little Pearl are Demi Moore's real life daughters, Scout LaRue Willis and Tallulah Belle Willis.

Quotes:

Pearl: My father died before I reached my teens. Some say that was a punishment. My mother never remarried or loved another. Some say THAT was a punishment.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield (1997) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Agnus Dei

Entertaining, sensuous and beautifully lensed film.

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.