Product Description

Sexy Demi Moore (DISCLOSURE, INDECENT PROPOSAL) heats up this powerfully sensual story of illicit love! In a time when adultery is punishable by death, Hester Prynne (Moore) becomes involved in a risky and scandalous affair with her town's handsome minister (Gary Oldman -- MURDER IN THE FIRST). But when their secret passion results in a child, Hester is confronted with the town's overwhelming scorn ... and is condemned to forever wear the scarlet letter "A" as a public brand of shame! A highly provocative retelling of the classic tale of forbidden love, THE SCARLET LETTER combines a sizzling story with exciting stars and delivers must-see entertainment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15007 in DVD
• Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2002-06-04
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 135 minutes

Amazon.com
In yet another example of Demi Moore's astonishing narcissism, this appalling adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Great American Novel becomes a teary, talk-show-worthy story of a woman rediscovering the erotic, of interrupted love, of a brave-but-beleaguered heroine's personal struggle against male stupidity. Never mind that this has little to do with Hawthorne's magnificent, protofeminist book, which is a million times more relevant today than this film could ever be. Director Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) deserves to be horsewhipped for colluding with Moore's self-fascination, while Gary Oldman should be kicked in the pants for allowing the novel's main character to come off as an inconsequential ninny. Making matters worse, Robert Duvall can be seen ridiculously dancing with a deerskin on his head. If this film were a joke, it would be a very bad joke. But it's not, and that's worse. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
A new version of Hawthorne, adapted by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Roland Joffé-though all you really need to know is that Demi Moore plays Hester Prynne. The picture achieves a lustful, lugubrious camp, but, sadly, the camp is never high; Joffé isn't exactly a good sport, and he appears to take this ridiculous movie seriously. You can laugh at the nude bathing sequences or at Hester's curious decision to make out with Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman) in a pile of grain, but the picture is too embarrassing to be a scream, and Moore, though high in the bosom, is depressingly down in the mouth. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Hauntingly provocative
I've avoided this movie for the longest time because Demi Moore was in it. Isn't that silly? Even though I've enjoyed many of her movies, I just couldn't believe that a movie this important with her in it would receive the historic treatment it deserved. I could not have been more wrong. I was deeply engrossed from the first scene, and could not tear myself away. Demi herself is amazing, but the screenplay and the scenery, the production and the details pulled me right into the story and would not let me go until the very last scene -- and I absolutely loved the ending! This is an amazing work of art -- and I'm glad I finally had a chance to see it. Once I had, I knew I had to add it to my library -- a collection of what I consider to be only the best representations of our culture and our history.

Freely, very very freely, adapted from the novel
There's a disclaimer which flashes on the screen at the beginning of this 1995 film. It says it is "freely adapted from the novel" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Then it goes on to tell the famous story through the eyes of twentieth century feminism, sexual freedom and politically correct happy endings. I must admit I never did read the book, but I've long been aware of the general plot, set in 1666, of an adulteress forced to wear the scarlet letter "A".

Demi Moore is cast as Hester Pryne, the adulteress, and we all know what's going to happen to her. She's been sent to America to establish a home; her husband is supposed to be following soon. She shocks the good people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony when she insists on living alone, with the help of a couple of bondsmen and a female black slave. I doubt if Hawthorne's book then had the local minister, played by Gary Oldman, do a little nude swimming on Hester's property. I also doubt that Hawthorne had her peeking, getting excited and sensuously soaking in a bathtub, displaying her own nude body and thinking about the pastor. The couple declare their love for each other but it is only after they think her husband dead that they consummate their relationship. Her pregnancy is a crime and she spends the last six months of her confinement in a horrible prison. Then she is forced to wear the scarlet letter and is shunned by all. She refuses to name her lover, and so Oldman sulks around town, looking guilty but keeping his mouth shut. This is a great role for any actress, but Demi Moore just can't handle it. She might have a nice body but the expression on her face seems to be frozen, incapable of the subtleties, passion and despair that the role calls for. Gary Oldman is slightly better, but his portrayal of the weakling pastor is also one-dimensional.

The film is saved, however, by the role of Robert Duvall, who appears late, but yet steals the show with his impassioned portrayal of the wronged husband bent on revenge. He dominates every scene he's in and a single expression on his face tells more about his character than the combined performances of the rest of the entire cast. The story is a good one, and it moved fast enough to hold my interest, especially since there were some action scenes added that Hawthorne had probably never intended. That's why I can't recommend it unless you're willing to just relax and watch a well-plotted historical romance with mediocre acting.

This is one CONFUSED movie !!
Hawthorne's moving tale of tragedy and tolerance has been so twisted as to be nearly unrecognisible. In it's place is a confused action flic which culminates in a macbre game of musical chairs at the scaffold. First it's "hang the witches", then it's "hang Hester Pryne", then finally let's "hang the minister !" In the end, no one hangs due to a convenient and bloody Indian Uprising. That none of these things were present in Hawthorne's masterpiece is apparently of no consequence. This is a good movie to lend to a kid who is too lazy to read the book, and who you have a grudge against.