Crucible, The World of the Puritans 1996 by Peter Brunette With The Crucible, director
Nicholas Hytner has triumphantly navigated the shoals of that perennial Hollywood danger,
the Sophomore Slump. After The Madness of King George, the wildly successful foray into
historical comedy that was his first film, the well-known British stage director has now
turned serious, taking on the dour Puritans and the infamous Salem witch trials, to
magnificent effect.
Both films are convincingly if unostentatiously set in their periods (the late 17th
century for The Crucible and the late 18th century for Madness), yet Hytner also knows how
to keep the pace and visuals snappy enough for modern audiences raised on MTV. If he keeps
this up, who knows? Someday they may let him make a film that is set after 1800.
The Crucible is based on a 45-year-old play of the same name, a historically important
drama written by Arthur Miller, undoubtedly America's greatest living playwright. Miller
has himself written the screenplay and manages to open up the play to the wider spaces of
film in ways that do not seem forced in the slightest. The most important thing about the
play, of course, was that its story of a literal witch hunt was meant to be read
allegorically, like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," as a commentary on that other
witch hunt of the early 50's, the hearings of the House Unamerican Activities Committee,
which sought to root out all "subversives" from the entertainment industry.
This story of passion betrayed and standing up for one's principles in spite of the frenzy
of the mob is mesmerizing on its own terms, especially as shot by Hytner (whose handling
of sound and silences is equally superb), but the knowing spectator also gets a frisson of
allegorical delight when the accused are asked to "name names," as they were
asked in the 50's, or when the judge assures them that "no uncorrupted man should
fear this court," or when they are forced to lie to save themselves.
The only element of the story that doesn't successfully survive the double translation
from the 17th century to the 50's to the present is the film's sexual politics. The climax
of the plot turns on accusations of "harlotry," and we are asked to condemn
Abigail ---- (played by Winona Ryder) for her wanton lust. This is an old story, of
course, blaming women for sexual temptation, one that occurs throughout the great classics
of the Western world, beginning with the story of Adam and Eve. This undoubtedly played
well in the 50's, but rings false now.
The acting of the principals is uniformly superb. Daniel Day Lewis as John Proctor brings
just the right amount of sexual undertone to his role as the adulterer, yet is still
believable as an upstanding Puritan. Joan Allen, as his frigid, plain wife, follows up her
magnificent portrayal of Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon with a subtle characterization
that builds slowly to an overwhelming intensity by the end of the film. Winona Ryder --
who seemed out of her depth with Shakespeare in Al Pacino's Looking for Richard -- here
wrestles with the purposely stiff Puritan diction, in a passionate role, and wins the
match. And Paul Scofield, the British actor seen most recently as Ralph Fiennes' father
Mark Van Doren in Quiz Show, nicely balances the past and the present in his portrayal of
the supremely rational head judge who sees everything in black and white terms and who
insists, obsessively, that the Devil shall not hold dominion over one square inch of
Massachusetts.
The Crucible's stirring condemnation of absolutist thinking seems just as relevant today
as it must have nearly 50 years ago.
© copyright 1996 Film.Com
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Other reviews of this film: Crucible, The:Robert Horton
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