Plot
In 1666 in the Massachusetts Bay colony, Puritans and Algonquian have an uneasy truce. Hester arrives from England...
Release Year: 1995
Rating: 4.7/10 (7,479 voted)
Director:
Roland Joffé
Stars: Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall
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?
Writers: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Douglas Day Stewart
Cast: 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
Taglines:
When intimacy is forbidden and passion is a sin, love is the most defiant crime of all.
Release Date: 13 October 1995
Filming Locations: Oyster River, British Columbia, Canada
Box Office Details
Budget: $50,000,000
(estimated)
Gross: $10,400,000
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Three original scores were written for this film. The ones by Ennio Morricone and Elmer Bernstein were rejected. The one used was by John Barry.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
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.
Quotes: Dr. Roger Prynne:
Has this new land turned thee into a heathen?
User Review
Not that bad, actually
Rating: 6/10
I was expecting something really awful, but once I got about 15 minutes into
the movie, I decided that the only way to enjoy it was to forget that it was
"based on" a famous novel and just enjoy the movie for what it was. And I
found myself very entertained.
I was impressed with Gary Oldman's performance. It's nice to see him
portray someone who isn't a psychotic ham and he did admirably well. Demi
Moore suprised me with her acting and apart from a few stilted scenes and
discomfort with the dialogue, I think she pulled it off pretty well. I
found myself caring about her character and her relationship with
Dimmesdale. Perhaps the bathing scene was a little too gratuitous -- c'mon,
Demi, do you need to show it all? -- but it was only a few minutes out of
135.
I wish that Pearl could have been given more screen time and character
development and the woman who did her voiceover throughout the story left
much to be desired. As did Robert Duvall's performance. I didn't much like
his acting in this movie at all.
The supporting cast was excellent: Joan Plowright, Edward Hardwicke, and
others. The locations and set design were exquisite and the costumes were
gorgeous.
Overall, I thought it was a very good way to spend a couple hours. You see
some early colonial atmosphere, something which is almost extinct in movies
nowadays, and adequate and sometimes inspired acting. Just don't expect to
see Hawthorne's novel on the screen. If you want to see the unhappy ending
in all its self-mutilating glory, see Lillian Gish's silent version that is
sometimes aired on Turner Classic Movies. 6/10
0