The Scarlet Letter

Tara and I watched Roland Joffe's version of "The Scarlet Letter" this week. It was made in 1995. Demi Moore is always a pleasure to watch on the screen, but I didn't have high expectations for the movie or her acting. The result was actually better than I thought it would be. Joffe takes some liberties with the novel, but I have to say that I was pleased with the revisions. Native Americans play a significant role in the film, and when it begins, I assumed there was some influence from "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992). The filmwork is beautiful. The love scenes are hot. There is a scene where the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is preaching a sermon that uses language from the period about "the City on a Hill" that is moving. Gary Oldman plays the part of Dimmesdale in a sensitive and enticing way. I was unaware of him as an actor before, but I'll look for him now. (It turns out that he's played in a number of movies I've seen, but they were supporting roles.) Moore, playing Hester Prynne, gives a decent performance. What I especially liked about it was that she was convincing as a strong-willed woman who saw the evil that Puritanism had fallen into and she was rebelling against it. Robert Duvall gives an excellent performance (as always) playing the role of Roger Prynne/Chillingworth. He is superb as the sadistic and bitter doctor bent on revenge. Joan Plowright gives a memorable supporting performance as Harriet Hibbens, who likes to live naturally, rebels against Puritanism, and is accused of being a witch. The Native Americans are sympathetically treated. George Aguilar gives a strong supporting performance as the quiet leader of the "praying Indians" who have converted to Christianity under the minister of the kind-hearted Dimmesdale. When I taught American philosophy, one of the things that we went over were these two aspects of Puritanism: the idealism versus the reality of harsh judgmentalism that it degraded into. I don't normally mention these strong supporting roles, but they really grabbed me in this film. The film is far from perfect. But the rising crescendo of passion, the psychological struggle of Prynne and Dimmesdale, the frightening manipulation of Duvall's doctor, and the lush cinematography with warm lighting that reminds me of Zeffirelli (and yes, "The Last of the Mohicans,") swept me away and I enjoyed it a lot. And there's an altered ending to the story that I found more satisfying than Hawthorne's. Hawthorne was a genius and thank God for his work. (Coincidentally, I have cousins who are descended from Hawthorne, so I've always looked on his work with curiosity followed by great admiration.) But I very much approved of the changes Joffe made.