MovieChat Forums > The Scarlet Letter (1995) Discussion > To adapt or not to adapt....

To adapt or not to adapt....

posted 12 years ago by Lizard_
3 replies | jump to latest

Ok ok so some of us love this movie and some of us hate it. I'm in the middle.

Most of the haters are Hawthorne fanatics who fell in love with the book and wanted something more purely adapted.

But if you take the movie on it's own without the book as background it still has it's flaws. I hate it when modern films turn women from the 1660's into modern feminists. I don't know how else Prynn's defiance could have been portrayed, just thought her attitude a bit modernized to fit in with today's standards.

Also the ending is ridiculous. There is no way the local law would have allowed a minister and his lover to remain a family in the town and still operate in polite society. I love that Arthur wasn't killed but it just felt abit forced.

But we come to my favorite part. Aside from the weird modern/archaic meshed standards in the plot Gary is sexy as sexy can get. He was not only beautiful but passionate and as far as I'm concerned this film can win an oscar based solely on his beauty.

So yeah it pretty much has it's flaws but Gary is the bandaid that holds everything together. Be still my heat. ;-)

hoowa! Tis I, TJ.

[–] CrystalKlar 12 years ago

I would like something closer to the book. There was no need to modernize Hester's feminisim. She was already a feminist of her time. I am a person who loves movie adaptations that are true to the books. My one exception...The Last of the Mohicans. I liked the movie better than the book.

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/ae33/Cklar210/Family%20pics/IMG_244 9_2.jpg

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

Period books are always updated, modernised when adapted as movies. This one was badly executed.

Whereas Last of the Mohicans was not really a good book and has had better film adaptations.

Its that man again!!

[–] CrystalKlar 11 years ago

Last of the Mohicans was almost unreadable! The movie is one of my favorites! It's so rare that a movie is actually better than the book. I just think they could have done something beautiful with this story. Maybe BBC should do it.