話說自由是魔鬼，因而新教徒們肆意地在新大陸踩場，天真的Hester踏足饑餓的陷阱；在這里，Arthur的赤裸會被溪流擁抱；赤鳥在林木中享受無忌的誘惑。因為自由是魔鬼，所以天空與大地做起了愛，所以偷情可以不戴套，鬼祟可以不關門，就連浴室也可以開小洞。不好意思，這里是美洲大陸——自由與夢想的國度。就像Harrier阿姨的大劇透：美女和帥哥就該在一起。

那些懷抱可愛情懷的童鞋們，The Scarlet Letter里頭有偉大的愛吧，也有撼人的信念吧，不過在我看來，愛情只是網(wǎng)名，真相卻是自由。從開場，Hester就在奮力掙脫律法的約束，試圖自個兒開展一番生活，同時也在掙脫鄰舍們的目光閑言，掙脫鄉(xiāng)俗禮節(jié)的規(guī)范，似乎凡塵的一切皆成束縛。Hester就不該屬于此地，但她是天使還是魔鬼？也許她是魔鬼，因為自由在這里就是魔鬼，那么她的心頭鐫刻著自由，說不準是從火星跑來的魔鬼。這或許就是為什么作為天使的Arthur終遭迷惑。不過看來，就連Arthur也在追逐自由。即使最后把真相大告天下，難道不是在以死亡作為自由從而逃脫心靈深重的焦灼么？電影里，女人對自由的感知是基于無知，而那男人的自由便是基于畏懼。當忠貞比縱欲更難面對，Hester從容地選擇妥協(xié)；當負罪變得比自縛更讓人悲痛，Arthur的抉擇無疑是死亡。這分明不是什么女權主義下的堅韌，也不是責任當前的大無畏精神，只是自由賦予了自由的牢籠，而兩名臆想的靈魂在自我設定的陰霾里逃竄罷了。

在基督的歷史里，女性頭頂丑陋的帽子被指作罪惡的源頭。伊甸園里有禁果孕育的自由，但這自由里的魔鬼并非單純地等同于罪惡。上帝僅告訴了他們自由化身為一道門，然而是哪一道終究還是Hester與Arthur的選擇。

很難判定改編的結(jié)尾不會涉及到90年代中期好萊塢電影總體偏向的小溫情格調(diào)。各位耳熟能詳?shù)牟皇荈orrest Gump （《阿甘正傳》）、The Shawshank Redemption（《肖申克的救贖》）就是Léon（《這個殺手不太冷》），殘忍里不乏溫存。然而，到底是什么時候有情人終成眷屬就意味著一定是大團圓結(jié)局？看不到即使是Titanic里愛得生生死死轟轟烈烈的Jack 和Rose到頭來也抵不住現(xiàn)實中Revolutionary Road的百般無奈么？相遇后的Hester和Arthur就好似找到了生存與奮斗的理由，然而結(jié)局一旦獲得了這以愛情代言的自由，誰又能保準偏左的Hester和靠右的Arthur不會出現(xiàn)信仰分歧？有的戀人適合談情，而有的則該經(jīng)營家庭。有時候在人懷念過往的同時，表明他并不滿足于現(xiàn)狀，電影里頭Pearl的旁白，我讀出了一點這樣的意味……由誰來判定究竟是原著還是電影要更悲劇些？誰要來定義罪惡？誰又要來定義自由？

一不小心，我這樣的延伸似乎給純粹的愛情片加上了突兀的諷刺色彩。本片的改編帶有矛盾，電影The Scarlet Letter究竟是反宗教或是頌揚宗教，Roland Joffé的作品大概偏向于前者。但畢竟，還是有人會看到看不見的事物。撇去懷疑主義，我還是老實看電影的好……

    All the encounters are reunions after a long separation in the world. I guess, Hester and Arthur must have seen much affliction before they meet each other. Their love sprouts like the seed of evil, and bursts into bloom.
     Red roses in prison, which offer the fragrance and fragile beauty to the dying prisoners, have already predicted a vivid metaphor at the beginning. Love is beautiful, like rose; yet love is cold and painful, like its thorn.
    I don’t understand the treatise on Good and Evil in transcendentalism of Emerson, I don’t understand the concept of salvation in the Bible, more don’t understand the puritan tradition in the United States. The scarlet letter, for me, is not only a piece of love history, but also a confession related to the original sin. With the fall of Adam and Eve, human beings are originally sinful. The Bible tells us love covers over all wrongs. Moreover, the innocent is not the one to blame. A kind-hearted and honest couple, once trapped in the puzzle of extramarital affair, they are destined to walk into a dilemma——since the flame of love and the perfection of morality mostly can’t live together. As in Paradise Lost, the hero and heroine choose to suicide in their blissful love.
    There are no ugly loves, nor handsome prisons. For Arthur, Hester is undoubtedly beauteous in looks, and seductive in personality. For Hester, when Arthur says I love you affectionately to her, she can feel the love that he bears patiently in this man’s eyes and hands, even silence. In their seven years, determination, hypocrisy, and self-deception are all human nature; in their whole life, long waiting, sense of guilt, and endurance for the contempt are all atonement. In my eyes, Hester veritably has the right to say love although her purity and courage deviate from morality and ethics. Love is colder than death——their love is holy but miserable, like the sacrificial offerings on the altar.
    The bible says that love can bear all things, hope all things, and endure all things. Miss Hester keeps silence for their forbidden love for seven years, while Mr. Arthur pays for this piece of virtueless love at the cost of his life. Who dares to say that the affection between Hester and Arthur is not true love? Common customs tear their bodies apart, but their souls will stay together forever. They feel each other in their stomachs, and they enjoy the ecstasy of sex. Who dares to say that sex doesn’t mean love? There is no doubt that Pearl is the crystal of their love.
    Love is a kind of curse, and love is a lonely carnival. The Scarlet Letter not merely tells the process of romantic love, it tells the ending of love——more accurately the consequence of love that knocks on everyone’s soul. When Arthur falls down on the scaffold due to the heavy burden in mind, when Hester’s ashes are buried beside Arthur after many years, have they ever regretted for the things they had done, including love and the confession of love? Love is colder than death——Hester and Arthur break the curse——chains of morality, and the sublimation of their love burns all the people’s eyes.
    With a bloody letter A on his naked chest, Arthur died in Hester’s arms——he is finally released. However, his deep love for Hester will never disappear. The moment when Arthur eventually stands in front of the multitude and shouts loudly I LOVE THIS WOMAN, we witness a scene of extraordinary love, and the shameful letter A is endowed with new meaning.
    Every character in the book is adorned with a letter A. Hester and Arthur are the undertakers of A. Those righteous people in New England who propose to punish Hester with A——they are the makers of A. And those crowds of onlookers are witnesses of A. Hester’s husband is a dirty dog——he is the enquirer of A. Little Pearl is compared to the fruit of sin, and she is the savior of A. I think the scarlet letter A can be considered as Adultery, Able, Admirable, Amour, Angel, Advance, and even America.
    In the end, Hawthorne writes, On a field, sable, the letter A, gules. I seem to see a woman kneel on the wasteland, in front of her there is a tomb. The woman is so devout that she looks like a statue of a nun. She firmly believes that there will be a new era some day, a bright and heavenly era.
    Love is colder than death. Hester and Arthur, have already lost their names, bodies and souls.
    Now, maybe I should go to read Moby Dick by Melville. That’s for Hawthorne.

齊聲之言并非真理

專制之行并非神意

一切都是人類自加的畫地為牢行為，一種人類不健全的抱團心里。但這些都是紙老虎，若有一天當被排擠在外的人以一種勢不可擋的堅定來進行反抗時，紙老虎們也就化為一地殘屑。原著中寫：……然而在這一片灰黑之中，卻傲然挺立著一叢玫瑰……豁然深悟老子千年前之語：鄰國相望,雞犬之聲相聞，民至老死不相往來。這是多大的憫生之情，多大的寬恤與自由。

    這個片看第一遍的時候，我感動得一塌糊涂。今天又翻出來看了一遍，廢言幾句。
    一個女人得堅韌和偉大，是第一次看完以后的總結(jié)。她坐船三個月到一個陌生的地方獨自開始新的生活，買地、安家、雇人、耕種，本身就不是一個平凡的女子會承擔的責任。更何況還要面對新環(huán)境中人群的挑戰(zhàn)和壓力：人們異樣的眼光、邪惡牧師的騷擾。
    正如鄰居希莉所言,她的丈夫雖然娶了她的人但是卻得不到她的心。一個年輕漂亮、聰明勇敢而又博覽群書、思想獨立的女人，內(nèi)心很難被真正虜獲。同樣地對于丁亞澀，一個年輕英俊、對上帝虔誠的牧師而言，勢必要把他的一生獻給鐘愛的事業(yè)了?？墒撬麄兤嘤隽?。我很喜歡這一段，應該是全劇中最美好的部分。別說兩個年輕漂亮強壯有力的身體對彼此的吸引（連我也被驚羨了，看來不管男女我都是很好色的），也是精神的契合讓他們走到一起。他們眼神接觸時留下剎那間的空白，繼而又驚惶失措地逃避。Gery Oldman在Moore的純凈坦誠的笑容中不能自拔，害羞而無助，卻是滿眼的柔情。
    短暫的溫情在那樣的歷史背景下顯得多么無助而卑微。她丈夫的噩耗，懷孕，受審判被關押，在獄中誕下一女。堅韌的女人在里面哭泣，痛苦的男人在雨中流血以減輕內(nèi)心的傷痛。社會的傷疤用一個“紅字”貼在女人的身上，人心的侮辱作為懲戒－－這是最殘酷的刑罰。女人丈夫的歸來加重了氣氛的陰險。瘋狂的報復以最陰暗的方式部署，人性的脆弱在那時顯露無遺。接下里就是一連串的殺戮，直到最后他們都站在絞刑臺上……
    我始終看到一張堅毅而偉大的臉，正義的控訴，堅貞的情操。她從來沒有卑微的時候，雖然她也感到痛苦和無奈。而相比于女人的坦蕩和神圣，那個和神在一起的男人卻背負著女人的保護和罪惡的圣明，痛苦地茍延，讓所謂的道德扭曲善良的心靈。直到面對死亡，他才大聲喊出："I love this woman. I am the father of her child. And in god sight, I am her husband！" 天啊，他終于釋放了自己。看到這里會不會有人淚流滿面？
    我想是不會再看第三遍了。演員表達得很到位，凄美的故事結(jié)合復雜的社會時代背景，情節(jié)布置得很從容。大概因為小說本身也不錯吧。不會去看小說了。
    

本來沖著“紅字”的標題、Gary Oldman還有海報去看的片子。。。

沒想到看得不知所云?。?！

136分鐘的片子，看完了發(fā)現(xiàn)，兩個多小時再也回不來了！??！

把原著改得亂七八糟，人物簡直是頂著原著名號的冒充者罷了。。。

以Demi Moore的聲音怎么適合演女主？？？

說著說著就像纏帶卡殼了，讓人聽著渾身難受?。?！

而且，原著中女主那隱忍、逆順的外表哪去了？？？

被Demi演成了一個拓荒欲望極強的女權主義者?。?！

更夸張的是：Demi在片子里面強壯地像個漢子！?。?br>
有沒有搞錯？？？

Gary Oldman也把原著中悶騷的男主演成了明騷的憤青！?。?br>
還有Gary湖中洗澡露PPJJ的場景太扯淡了點吧？？？

男主一個美洲殖民地拓荒期的牧師，遮還來不及，怎么可能經(jīng)常跑去人家后院裸泳呢？？？

再說紅鳥勾引女主、女奴偷窺女主洗澡、長發(fā)男試圖強奸女主、長發(fā)男被女主老公暗殺、女主老公自殺的橋段，亂七八糟哪里來的??？？？

這不是美劇好不好！?。?br>
至于Pearl，和個道具差不多。。。

完全沒有原著中小女孩的靈氣和妖質(zhì)！！！

還有片子的畫外音，一直聽得我蛋疼?。?！

虧了我是個男生，可以很精確運用“蛋疼”這個詞來形容自己當時的感受。。。

總之，不靠譜啊不靠譜！?。。。。?！