FILM FILM - University of Macau Library

72 Transition and Transformation
To him, this mirror relation – with its unique cinematic expression through the
dissolve as well as its classic symbolic expression through the mask, the mirror
and the body double – thus remains an important key to Sjöström’s work.
The play with shadows, however, is just as important as the light. A key scene
in the film is where Dimmesdale proposes to Hester, only to find that she is
already married. In contrast to their previous meetings – except for the initial
one in the church – this does not take place in exterior space, in the landscape
that allowed them their freedom. It is winter, and the pastor visits Hester in her
house. The interior is lit, not least by the fire, but in the beginning, as he enters,
the dark shadow he casts seems to prefigure what is to come. As they talk, shadows
of a chair or of the spinning wheel are cast on the walls, which seems to
visualize the sombre and fateful character of their meeting. When Dimmesdale
understands the full truth, he walks away from Hester and is hidden by a wall
in the foreground. Only his giant, black shadow is visible in the background as
he sits down, leaning his face into his hands. The usual evening call in the village
is then heard: “Lights out! All is well!”, upon which the room is darkened.
The darkness serves as cover for their final embrace, now with a new dimension
of guilt added, before Dimmesdale hastily leaves, and Hester, left alone in the
house, desperately puts her hands on her breast, in the form of an A. Shortly
thereafter, Hester – as if driven by an inner force impossible to retain – rushes
out after him, a dark shadow against the white snow. As she returns to her
house, she leans against the door as she closes it, and the shadow of the spinning
wheel now covers her. The composition seems to suggest an image of a
martyr having been condemned to the wheel, a frequent motif in religious iconography.
(FIG. 10 + 11) This image of the wheel is then cast upon her several
times as she walks back and forth in the room. It may not be too far-fetched to
read this image as a pictorial allusion prefiguring her martyrdom to come, as
Hawthorne in his novel makes another reference to religious iconography in
relation to Hester:
Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this
beautiful woman, so picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her
bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many
illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent. 24
This Madonna-like image of Hester also appears in the film as she is led to the
scaffold with the child in her arms.