The Scarlet Letter
by Rick Hauser
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DVD details
Actor: Elisa Erali, John Heard, Josef Sommer, Meg Foster, Ralph DrischellDirector: Rick Hauser
Brand: Wgbh Wholesale
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 240 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: PBS
DVD Reviews of The Scarlet Letter
DVD Review: Brilliant exploration of the dim valley of tears we live in
Summary: 5 Stars
Hawthorne's novel deserves a miniseries like this one. It takes time and the use of a voiceover to penetrate the depth of Hester Prynne's and her lover's motivations, feelings, shame and repentance. It also takes the slowness of a TV film to really explore the mystery of this community and some of its characters. There is very little action in this romance but a lot of inner and invisible suffering, torturing and yet joy. But when we have said that we haven't said much because the film here evades any simple approach, just as the novel does. And the question is why ? Most people have concentrated on the characters or the puritan attitudes and at times prejudices. This remains shallow. To try to climb on the scaffold of this piece of fiction and discover the subject from some height, if not a bird's view at least a hanged man's view, we have to evade concrete material characters and situations and soar up to the concept of God without which nothing is understandable. The concept of God is ever present but never really expressed and specified in words. There obviously is the punishing God of the Puritans founded on the vision of Him we can get in many biblical texts or many Christian or non-Christian documents from the first century CE, after Jesus' death, from the Dead Sea Scrolls for instance. This very strict respect of the Law and its requirements has always survived in Christianity as a dark background for many centuries and then as a reference when puritanism emerged as a religion per se. One is pure or isn't. If one is pure, one must not in any way live with someone who is not pure and if someone is not pure the community of the pure ones has to reject him or her, and that rejection must become God's punishment, in no way human but entirely divine. This punishment has to be both public and totally interiorized. And here is one of the most important theme of the novel : Hester can satisfy these two characteristics with the scarlet letter and her interiorization of her « sin ». But her lover who is condemned by her to remain unknown can only be punished inside his own self, hence he can only punish himself. This excuses the « husband » who will avenge himself on this lover because this « husband » will become the punishing tool used by God, and yet the interiorization of the punishment by the lover himself will enable him to evade and escape the vengeance of this « husband » who will in the end be frustrated of his vengeance and punished in his turn. Is that God's punishment ? Yet there is another concept of God that is ever present in the novel. It is the concept of a God of love. Love is threefold in this perspective. It is sensual first and it may lead to sin when it is not controled and breaks a moral rule. Then it is love coming from human reason which may lead to insanity when a social reasonable rule is broken and no repair can be found, and there is no repair except through a social punishment that does not repair anything but is a repayment for the unreasonable fault. Finally it is also spiritual and in this dimension love becomes Christian because it leads to forgiveness and love for one's enemies and love beyond mistakes and faults. This love calls for repentance but not for punishment, at least not in the hands of men. Repentance is a great privilege for someone who « sins » but repentance has to be public in order to lead to forgiveness. If there is no forgiveness in society their God is not a really Christian God. If there is not repentance on the side of the « sinner » he or she is not Christian since she or he refuses to be forgiven or he or she makes forgiveness impossible. We can see that Hester in her repentance leads the whole community to forgiving her, whereas Arthur, her lover, not being able to repent publicly, is forced to repent in silence in his own soul without any possible forgiveness from anyone. If there is no forgiveness there is no salvation possible, there is no Christian solution. This leads to the ending of this book that is so marvellously shown by the film : Arthur is literally forced to live his repentance as a slow sacrifice in the eyes of God : he has to die to redeem himself, his society, Hester and Pearl, to « crucify » himself on the scaffold with his women at his feet. But what about Hester who needs in the novel Arthur's sacrifice to be fully redeemed ? And what about Pearl who can only find the strength to kiss her father, hence to forgive him, hence to love him, when the sacrifice comes to its end ? Is Hester vain and selfish in her human love for Arthur by condemning him to suffer in silence ? Is Pearl beyond any Christian definition in her incapability to love her father except when it is too late to save him ? Is the romance a condemnation of puritanism or a vindication of human sensuality and sensitivity as the only way to redeem humanity ? Is the concept of God limited in time and space ? And then is the future godless ? That's what this film and the novel behind lead me to think ... at the present moment.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Description of The Scarlet Letter
An epic version of Nathaniel Hawthorne?s enduring novel of Puritan America in search of its soul. Hester Prynne overcomes the stigma of adultery to emerge as the first great heroine in American literature. Hawthorne?s themes?the nature of sin, social hypocrisy and community repression?still reverberate through American society. Stars Meg Foster, John Heard and Kevin Conway. Directed by Rick Hauser.Special DVD features include: special video segments that take viewrrs behind-the-scenes on the filming of The Scarlet Letter; select cast filmographies; a Hawthorne biography; discussion questions for educators; scene selection; English audiotrack; and closed captions.
On two DVD9 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4 x 3 Full-Frame
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