The Scarlet Letter (1979)

The story recounts the downfall of Hester Prynne...her sin of passion, the tangible result of her sinning, her daughter Pearl, as well as the misery and torment of the father of the child. Enter Roger Chillingworth, a man determined to bring chaos to the lives of all. How Hester overcomes obstacles is a tribute to a strong and courageous woman. I found it to be a compelling adaptation of the novel. The actors were well suited to their parts. The story line closely followed the book. I was given to understand that the minister is Puritan, as opposed to Catholic. Maybe some were misled because he was referred to as a "priest." The scenery was beautiful, the clothes and sets authentic. The music was haunting, and helped to set the tone. I thoroughly enjoyed the children who played Pearl at various ages, and found their acting quite good. In fact, the entire supporting cast did a good job.

Well, I can say, that this is one of the most boring movies I've seen. What can you expect from PBS though, right? Yes, the story is interesting, but gahd, there was so much talking.. nothing interesting happens for an hour or so.. Here's what I found wrong with the movie*Like others have said, the baby crying is REALLY REALLY annoying. Then, when the kid gets older, she constantly laughs, which makes me wonder why the mother dosen't just KILL IT. That kid is ANNOYING. ARGHH!*The only reason worth watching is for John Heard, or Meg Foster. BUT, most of the time, Heard overacts.. We see him screaming in points, then the rest of the movie he just walks around with dark circles under his eyes. Some points, the overacting is good I suppose.. He's still pretty sexy in it though.*WHO cares about the 'making of' things they add in on the two tapes.. Who cares about seeing where they filmed? How about some interviews with the main stars DAMNIT!*It looked like something filmed with my camera...It had a homeade feeling to it. If the movie was any good, I wouldn't complain about that though. Now, with all that, the end is okay... after about the first three hours it gets decent. I wouldn't watch it again unless I was at gun point.

Don't let Michael's comment deter you from watching this very faithful, well-acted AND produced version of the book. If actually reading the book itself isn't your cup of tea, you won't go wrong by viewing this 4-hour, videotaped production from PBS. Its leads are excellently and richly portrayed - it has a fine sense of time and place - and only the quite inept view of the Salem Custom House (special effects creation) stands as less than exemplary. The director clearly wanted a sense of the realism of the pounding sea in the scene with Hester & Roger, which heightens the emotional urgency, and the baby crying is annoying because a baby crying is often QUITE ANNOYING! If a dramatic presentation of the tale is your interest, you won't go wrong with this one.

I saw this series when it first premiered with much fanfare on PBS in the Boston area 20 years ago. I was in my early teens, but the story moved me and has endured as a favorite. I was delighted to see that this version had finally come to video a few years ago, and was as beautiful as I remembered. I get so much more out of the dialogue now, and although the effects are as cheesy as you might expect from a PBS miniseries from over 20 years ago, the music is still affecting, and the performances excellent. It's gorgeously filmed in and around New England, and the "making of" shorts included on the video are a nice touch. As I recall, the story is very close to the original -- a notable difference being the color of Hester Prynne's eyes, which were black in the story, but are light blue in this version. I mention this because Meg Foster's eyes stand out to give her an other-worldly look which is very effective. This miniseries is way up there on my must-see list!