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Example research essay topic: Hester And Dimmesdale End Of The Film - 1,560 words

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... her trappings of power as his example. The Scarlet Letters filmmaker, Roland Joffe, mastered the coloring of his film just as Hawthorne did. An interesting visual cue he used was a slight, brilliant red bird. The bird first glided across the screen when Hester was planting her garden. Joffe silenced all background noise and music while the bird, in nearly slow motion, flapped out of the forest.

The effect was hazy and surreal; all focus was on the radiant animal. Time resumed its interminable course once again, and the bird flew into the dark depths of the forest. Hester was as stunned as the Joffe intended the viewer to be, and trailed the bird through the labyrinth of underbrush and thick vegetation to a forest paradise, where she first laid eyes on Dimmesdale swimming nude in pristine water. The red bird, obviously the temptation leading her to her co-sinner, was strongly tied to the themes of life (planting), to the unruly nature of the forest, and to Dimmesdale. The bird was used as an unmistakable symbol again when Hester and Dimmesdale were having their affair in the barn. During this scene, Joffe cut back and forth from the couple to Mituba bathing sensually with the red bird by her side.

As Hawthorne used the color red to show Pearls passion and life, Joffe utilized the bird as an equally strong symbol. Thus, Joffe created a different symbol to make a similar point. Joffe used a variation of scarlet in defining Chillingsworths character, rather than ebony overtones in the book, but once again to prove the same point of Chillingsworths evil. When he reunited with Hester, he wore a faded jacket of an unattractive, sickly red.

A pitcher of reddish liquid was plainly visible on a table behind Chillingworth when he met Dimmesdale. Brewster's bleeding scalp was the same lifeless red. The use of the color red for Pearls blanket and clothing as a symbol of life, love and passion is used in the film and novel as well. In both works, she consistently dressed in a bright crimson dress or clutched a red blanket in stark contrast to the grays and blacks of the other characters in both the film and the novel. Chillingworth is as the epitome of evil in both the novel and the film.

He is referred to as the Black Bird of Satan an interesting juxtaposition to the symbolism of the red bird that Joffe uses. The symbolism of the forest is used similarly to the novel. Hester's home is on the border of the forest and the sea- inside the forest in the novel- displaying her wishes to be as close to nature as possible. Her being near nature takes her away from the town, illustrating her alienation. Her link to the wild and witchcraft is strengthened in the movie, but was also evident in the book.

The theme of the Puritan founding fathers evil is vigorously stressed. As in the novel, the characters arent portrayed as inherently evil, merely bound by laws at the expense of human suffering. At the start of the film, the founding fathers were shocked when Hester showed a will to live in her own way, and told her sternly that rules and order equal survival. Why did Joffe take such liberties with the book? By beginning the film where he did, Joffe gave the viewer more insight into Hester's character. Her strength and recklessness is seen immediately she bids on Mituba, her indentured servant, forgets to attend church, and prefers to live alone.

The town elders immediately disapprove. The viewer also learns that she may never have loved her husband but was offered to him in payment of a debt her father had incurred. The viewer is informed of her fathers bitter temperament. In adding characters, the viewer is provided with more insight into the filmmakers moral code. Mituba is the epitome of loyalty, vulnerability and innocence; her violent murder serves as the first absolute indicator of Chillingworth's completely vicious and unstable nature. The expansion of Mistress Hibbins character adds needed warmth to the film; she has a dry sense of humor and upon first meeting Hester knows that she is in love with Dimmesdale.

She is portrayed as someone who can see the truth of the human soul, just as Metacom et was able to see that Dimmesdale was the only Puritan with a true heart. Johnny Sassamon, an English-speaking Algonquin who is Dimmesdale's best friend, is a minor character. The fact that the ministers best friend is an Indian shows both his open mind and heart as well as his link to that which is uncivilized and not of Puritan ideals. Brewster is first portrayed as a kindred spirit to Hester; a fellow rule breaker who finds Hester her home.

However, by the end of the film, he has tried to rape her and is seen as almost as evil as Chillingworth. His character is the result of a lack of rules, both external and internal. While Hester doesnt choose to abide by the rules of society, her internal sense of right and wrong is powerful. Thus, Joffe makes the point that rules are important, although not necessarily all rules. In using Pearl as the narrator, Joffe gives a more personalized portrayal of the situation. Obviously, she is sympathetic to her parents situation.

She could be mirroring the producers own feelings and sympathies. Also, she is expressing a more contemporary perspective; one that a modern audience could relate to more easily than the books narrator. Was the filmmaker successful in his rendition of the Scarlet Letter? His creativity enhanced this story in several ways.

Because it is a story dealing with love, passion, and beauty, the use of gorgeous images to convey these feelings certainly gave a level of quality to his work. The use of the bright red of Pearls clothing and the bird versus the faded blood red associated with Chillingworth are quite effective in portraying the themes of love versus hate. Water imagery immediately shows the viewer a link between Hester and Dimmesdale before they even meet. The viewers first glimpse of him is swimming nude; both Hester and Mituba are seen defying the Puritan mores by taking warm baths. The casting is successful as Demi Moore, while not as beautiful as one may have imagined from the novel, radiates a strength that many other actresses wouldnt. Her strong jaw and physical strength contrast to Gary Oldmans willowy build, long wavy hair and fine features.

In appearance alone, she comes across as the stronger character. Pearls role is played by a little girl who bears a remarkable resemblance to both Demi Moore and Gary Oldman, which adds to the reality of the film. The addition of Mituba's mute, sensitive character is important; her murder at Chillingworth's hands displays his total corruption by revenge. Brewster's character plainly exhibits the result of a person governed by no rules or order. The expansion of Mistress Hibbins character adds humor and interest to the film; Hester's life seems less dour with her presence. This, combined with the more positive ending, was probably aimed to appease the modern viewer who will always choose a less realistic, happy ending to a tragic one that pulls the story together.

It was also interesting that in the end of the film, the town is last seen in state of total chaos; thus proving the founding fathers wrong rules and order do not equal survival, because the town did not survive. The Indians, however, did, and proved to be the final undoing of this group of people governed only by external rules; not the rules of true morals. The change in the time frame was helpful in explaining how Hester evolved as she did. There was less of a sense of spirituality in the film, however. The scaffold scene where Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale are on the scaffold at night with the brilliant light in the night sky was missing and would have added a more mystical sense; at times the film seemed more like a modern love story, once again, to appease the modern audience. Also, the language was altered to be more understandable to the viewer; this can be seen as another area where the filmmaker was perhaps taking too many liberties with Hawthorne's story in order to gain more popularity at the box office.

In the film, Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale move to the Carolinas to begin a new life, while in Hawthorne's novel, Pearl lives a full life, her mother working for the community and her father dying on the scaffold. There is no set answer as to which ending is better, one may be more fulfilling, another may be more informative, another could touch a child, the other, a parent. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person could not overlook the great care that went into the making of both. Using the novel as a base from which to work, the filmmaker created his own masterpiece, changing and adding elements as he felt necessary.

Whether for increased popularity or his own personal satisfaction, the filmmakers version also kept some themes and characters. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.


Free research essays on topics related to: founding fathers, hester and dimmesdale, mistress hibbins, end of the film, modern audience

Research essay sample on Hester And Dimmesdale End Of The Film

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