I admire Hawthorne's book very much. It is not a 'novel' as we now think of novels. Instead I've enjoyed it for decades as a book to be considered in three or four page bursts around bedtime. I don't really believe guilt is the foundation of society like Hawthorne did, but it's still a fine meditation on guilt and hypocrisy. Hawthorne loves language and introspection and is not overly concerned with plot developments and pacing. It's the quality I like about the book.
This version of the novel then is absolutely true to the source, It has a slow, deliberate pace and is weighted with ponderous, heavy import. It marches inexorably to a guilt-fueled, hopeless, agonized conclusion. Every filmed narrative ever made is not about your entertainment. It's 4 hours long and that seems to be the perfect length to get Hawthorne's tone across. Meg Foster is spot-on as the iron-willed morally-superior scapegoat of a retched Puritan town. Arthur Dimmesdale remains one of the most irritating protagonists in all of literature. John Heard (he of no eyebrows) plays the unsympathetic religious hypocrite; His Dimmesdale is quite the self-pitying drama queen. I used to think Heard was way over the top; now I think he's only purple here and there. Kevin Conway also chews on the scenery. The lady portraying the governor's mother (and a witch) is perfectly cast; even her bodily movements are finely nuanced. The only elements that date this are the poor atmospheric effects, and the junky credits. The videography is crisp, except when slow-mo is attempted. The score is again right on the money; ominous and simple.
A note on the DVD: There is absolutely no reason after 30 years to preserve the preview & recap materials in the exact place they were first viewed when broadcast (in segments) on TV, once upon a time in 1979. They intrude at the start of each new hour of this production, and prevent more people from taking the movie for a spin. The DVD would easily fit onto one disc if they dumped all that stuff. It's just not relevant to the DVD format. And we now have a devoted place for behind the scenes featurettes. It's called the "Extra Materials" section. Hawthorne interrupts the narrative only once with his Custom House sketch. Here they do it 4 times (the start of each night's episode). That was not his intent.
Still, there is no finer film version of the book. And it could be argued that this is the cleanest book to film xfer ever.
This version of the novel then is absolutely true to the source, It has a slow, deliberate pace and is weighted with ponderous, heavy import. It marches inexorably to a guilt-fueled, hopeless, agonized conclusion. Every filmed narrative ever made is not about your entertainment. It's 4 hours long and that seems to be the perfect length to get Hawthorne's tone across. Meg Foster is spot-on as the iron-willed morally-superior scapegoat of a retched Puritan town. Arthur Dimmesdale remains one of the most irritating protagonists in all of literature. John Heard (he of no eyebrows) plays the unsympathetic religious hypocrite; His Dimmesdale is quite the self-pitying drama queen. I used to think Heard was way over the top; now I think he's only purple here and there. Kevin Conway also chews on the scenery. The lady portraying the governor's mother (and a witch) is perfectly cast; even her bodily movements are finely nuanced. The only elements that date this are the poor atmospheric effects, and the junky credits. The videography is crisp, except when slow-mo is attempted. The score is again right on the money; ominous and simple.
A note on the DVD: There is absolutely no reason after 30 years to preserve the preview & recap materials in the exact place they were first viewed when broadcast (in segments) on TV, once upon a time in 1979. They intrude at the start of each new hour of this production, and prevent more people from taking the movie for a spin. The DVD would easily fit onto one disc if they dumped all that stuff. It's just not relevant to the DVD format. And we now have a devoted place for behind the scenes featurettes. It's called the "Extra Materials" section. Hawthorne interrupts the narrative only once with his Custom House sketch. Here they do it 4 times (the start of each night's episode). That was not his intent.
Still, there is no finer film version of the book. And it could be argued that this is the cleanest book to film xfer ever.