The Scarlet Letter

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

1995 2h 15m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 540

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set in puritanical Boston in the mid 1600s, the story of seamstress Hester Prynne, who is outcast after she becomes pregnant by a respected reverend. She refuses to divulge the name of the father, is "convicted" of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet "A" until an Indian attack unites the Puritans and leads to a reevaluation of their laws and morals.

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

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon Prime VideoSubscription

Amazon Prime Video with AdsSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Demi Moore
Hester Prynne
Gary Oldman
Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale
Robert Duvall
Roger Chillingworth
Lisa Andoh
Mituba
Edward Hardwicke
Gov. John Bellingham
Robert Prosky
Horace Stonehall
Roy Dotrice
Rev. Thomas Cheever
Joan Plowright
Harriet Hibbons

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roland Joffé
Writers: Douglas Day Stewart
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 21% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roland Joffé, shot by Alex Thomson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thom Noble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Demi Moore and Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roland Joffé directs. Alex Thomson behind the camera. John Barry scores. Thom Noble cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 21% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
331 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Roland Joffé, shot by Alex Thomson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Thom Noble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Demi Moore and Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "When intimacy is forbidden and passion is a sin, love is the most defiant crime of all.".
9IMDB entry: tt0114345 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "based on novel or book", "boston, massachusetts", "pregnancy", "witch burning".

The technical file

Cinematography: Alex Thomson
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Thom Noble
Production design: Roy Walker
Costume design: Gabriella Pescucci
Makeup / hair: Francesca Paris
Sound: Mark Berger
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Dashnaw
Runtime: 135 min · 2h 15m
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $10,382,407
Return: 21% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Scarlet Letter (1995)

Also by

Roland Joffé

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-03-28
★ 5/10
Heavens, but this is heavy going. Demi Moore is "Hester", sent on to a Massachusetts colony ahead of her husband to set up their new home. Determined to stand on her own two feet, she invites the enmity of the community by insisting on living on her own. Her only ally seems to be the preacher "Dimmesdale" (Gary Oldman) and he becomes more crucial when it looks like her husband has been killed in a shipwreck and when, shortly thereafter, she becomes pregnant. Determined not to reveal the identity of the father, she endures the disdain from her somewhat puritanical neighbours and both her and her daughter are shunned. Suddenly, enter Robert Duvall ("Roger") her long lost, and not very likeable, husband who decides that vengeance shall be his - and a burning might soon be in the offing. Despite an half decent cast, with some very solid supporting characters from the likes of Edward Hardwicke and Joan Plowright, the story is stolid in it's delivery. The opportunities to illustrate and expose the superstitious and hypocritical standards of the day; of the population who lived in a male-dominated, god-fearing society are lost in a stodgy dialogue with repetitive scenarios that look good, but take the story forward with the speed of a rhino stuck in treacle. This suffered from too much resource, too long a filming schedule and a very weakly delivered narrative and at the end I may well have volunteered myself for the flames.
Wuchak2025-06-10
★ 8/10
A glimpse of what it was like to live on the Northeast coast in the mid-1600s Hester Prynne arrives at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1666 (Demi Moore) to set up a homestead in preparation for her husband. As she gets to know the local pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman), they get word of tragedy concerning her spouse (Robert Duvall). "The Scarlet Letter” (1995) is notorious for being one of the worst adaptions of a well-known novel ever made, but movies usually make significant changes, such as Coppola & writer James Hart adding a love story to “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” which didn’t hinder that movie from being a popular (modest) hit. Even films based on recent novels make notable changes, such as “Serena.” How much more so with a book from 1850? Adding details on how Hester meets Arthur and how their relationship evolves works in my book. After all, viewers need to know why the protagonists were susceptible to the moral transgression in question. Of course, the reason Hawthorne’s book delayed the revelation of who Hester committed adultery with was to create suspense and provoke shock when it’s revealed to be the minister. Speaking of Arthur, he’s more noble here compared to the book where he’s an over-the-top hypocrite. They made the lumber baron in “Serena” more honorable as well. Or consider Roger Moore, who refused to portray James Bond as a woman-beater after his first movie in the role, which was a hit. Once actors gain an amount of clout, they’ll play the part the way they want to, not the way the book (or scriptwriter or director) technically says. Other changes include the addition of a slave woman, Mituba, but her role is so marginal, it doesn’t matter. Expanding the roles of the Wampanoag and Mi'kmaq peoples (the latter referred to as the Tarrantines) is also so slight that it’s not a big deal. And, honestly, I feel their expansion enhances the proceedings. So, the biggest change, is the ending, which isn’t as downbeat as the book, but isn’t exactly Disney-fied either, if you pay attention to Pearl’s narration. What I like most is how the movie successfully puts you into the setting of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the mid-1600s and makes the Puritans & others come alive. While this is romantic drama within a historical setting, there are bits of adventure, thrills, moral complexity and theological ruminations, as well as tragedy. It comes across as a mixture of films like “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Rob Roy” and “The Crucible,” the latter not debuting until the year after this one. It runs 2 hours, 15 minutes, and was shot on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, including areas around Campbell River. Other scenes were shot on the other side of Canada in Nova Scotia; specifically in the towns of Yarmouth and Shelburne, as well as the village of Saint Alphonse in Clare. GRADE: B+/A-