The Scarlet Letter (1995)

An affair between a young woman and a pastor has disastrous consequences.

Director:

Roland Joffé

Writers:

Nathaniel Hawthorne (novel), Douglas Day Stewart (screenplay)

Stars:

Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Demi Moore	...	Hester Prynne
Gary Oldman	...	Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
Robert Duvall	...	Roger Chillingworth
Lisa Andoh	...	Mituba (as Lisa Joliffe-Andoh)
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

Storyline

In 1666 in the Massachusetts Bay colony, Puritans and Algonquian have an uneasy truce. Hester arrives from England, seeking independence. Awaiting her husband, she establishes independence, fixing up a house, befriending Quakers and other outsiders. Passion draws her to a young pastor. He feels the same; when they learn her husband has probably died at the hands of Indians, they consummate their love. A child is born, and on the day Hester is publicly humiliated and made to wear a scarlet letter, her husband appears after a year with Indians. Calling himself Chillingworth, he seeks revenge, searching out Hester's lover and stirring fears of witchcraft. Will his murderous plot succeed?

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Plot Keywords:

letter | swimming | 17th century | adultery | pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

When intimacy is forbidden and passion is a sin, love is the most defiant crime of all.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

La letra escarlata

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,400,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Stars Ltd., Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While viewing a scene during production, Demi Moore so disliked the way her hair looked, that she insisted the scene be re-shot, at her own expense.

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Goofs

When Hester starts to follow the red bird into the forest, once she's gotten deeper in the woods, you can see to the left of the screen three deliberate puffs of white smoke coming from a fog machine.

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Quotes

Hester Prynne: [in labor] Are you sure God's not punishing me?
Harriet Hibbons: To be sure he's punishing you, woman. He be giving you a child.

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Connections

Referenced in The Commuter (2018)

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Soundtracks

Agnus Dei
(Based on Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings")
Performed by Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Festival Singers
(Adm. by G. Schirmen Inc. (ASCAP))
Courtesy of Telarc International Corporation

User Reviews

"Who is to say what is a sin in God's eyes?"

For my point of view "The Scarlet Letter" is a good film with great performances… All the actors do a superb job… 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 damaged… 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 costs… Gary Oldman looks perfect as Reverend Dimmesdale… He projects force and sexual magnetism along with the guilt for his sin…

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 persecution… 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 letter…

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

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

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 day…

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

"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 for…