Wim Wenders' adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, transposed from Boston to 17th century Salem. Shunned by the Puritan community and forced to wear a red letter 'A' on her breast, as a badge of shame for committing adultery, Hester Prynne stubbornly refuses to name the father of her illegitimate daughter. Her
husband, believed lost at sea on his journey to the New World, reappears, establishes himself as a doctor and pledges to discover the identity of his wife's lover, his own true identity concealed from all but Hester. Chief among his suspects is the local pastor, a sickly individual with a tortured soul... Surprisingly for Wenders, the weakest element of Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe is the score, which is one of the most obtrusive I've ever heard, swelling and gushing in all the wrong places, to intensely irritating effect. Always interesting and frequently good, the film never quite achieves greatness and is considerably less emotionally involving than it should be, despite excellent performances from the three principals (Senta Berger, Hans Christian Blech and Lou Castel). It is, however, always lovely to look at.
December 26, 2008
