"Der scharlachrote Buchstabe" or "The Scarlet Letter" is a collaboration between West Germany and Spain and the outcome was a German-language film from 1973. The director is Wim Wenders and he is also one of the many writers who worked on this one. His collaborator on the screenplay was Bernardo Fernández and it is an early career effort from him that also explains Spain listed as a production country. The movie is based on a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was already dead for over a century when this film was made. It runs for 90 minutes exactly and German film fans will immediately recognize lead actress Senta Berger as well as little Yella Rottländer and Rüdiger Vogler with whom Wenders worked on many occasions. Hans Christian Blech is probably not too known anymore today, but still gives a good performance. Foreign audiences will most likely immediately recognize Lou Castel who plays something similar to a love interest to Berger's character.
This is a film set in the 17th century and the story of a woman who gets humiliated because she has a child born out of wedlock. Things get even more complicated when her former husband returns into her life, but only with malicious intentions as he tries his all to find out who is the one that got her pregnant. The answer is: the local priest, which makes the situation even worse, even if nobody (except the audience) finds out about it for almost the entire film. I must say I enjoyed the watch. The actors were good and even if there was a questionable moment or situation in terms of realism here and there (it's okay though, nothing too bad and with some fantasy you can probably explain each of these moments to a somewhat credible degree), it was a convincing watch overall. It was easy to care for them, but Wenders still does not go for cheap emotional affection when it comes to the relationship between characters and audiences, but he goes for convincing portrayals and the characters with all their shades make very much sense. The cinematography is occasionally stunning too. I am a bit surprised this is nowhere near as famous as Wenders' most known works as it has depth, creativity and wit as well as nice dramatic tension from start to finish that will have you on the edge of your seat occasionally. Maybe the reason is that the real moments of greatness and extraordinarily memorable situations can't really be found here. It is still one of the best I have seen from Wenders so far and he proves that he can also make quality period pieces, a genre that he has not touched that much I guess. I certainly recommend the watch.
This is a film set in the 17th century and the story of a woman who gets humiliated because she has a child born out of wedlock. Things get even more complicated when her former husband returns into her life, but only with malicious intentions as he tries his all to find out who is the one that got her pregnant. The answer is: the local priest, which makes the situation even worse, even if nobody (except the audience) finds out about it for almost the entire film. I must say I enjoyed the watch. The actors were good and even if there was a questionable moment or situation in terms of realism here and there (it's okay though, nothing too bad and with some fantasy you can probably explain each of these moments to a somewhat credible degree), it was a convincing watch overall. It was easy to care for them, but Wenders still does not go for cheap emotional affection when it comes to the relationship between characters and audiences, but he goes for convincing portrayals and the characters with all their shades make very much sense. The cinematography is occasionally stunning too. I am a bit surprised this is nowhere near as famous as Wenders' most known works as it has depth, creativity and wit as well as nice dramatic tension from start to finish that will have you on the edge of your seat occasionally. Maybe the reason is that the real moments of greatness and extraordinarily memorable situations can't really be found here. It is still one of the best I have seen from Wenders so far and he proves that he can also make quality period pieces, a genre that he has not touched that much I guess. I certainly recommend the watch.