The Crucible

Buy This Item The Crucible by 20th Century Fox  Available from Amazon  $4.99  on 11-3-2008     The Salem witch trials of 1692 are brought vividly to life in this compelling adaptation of Arthur Miller's play, directed by Nicholas Hytner ("The Madness of King George"). A group of teenage girls meet in the woods at midnight for a secret love-conjuring ceremony. While the other girls attempt to cast love spells, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) wishes for the death of her former lover's (Daniel Day-Lewis) wife. When their ceremony is witnessed by the town minister, the girls suddenly find themselves accused of witchcraft. Soon the entire village is consumed by cries of witchcraft, and as the hysteria grows, blameless victims are torn from their homes, leading to a devastating climax. Reader Reviews I have read The Crucible, seen it preformed on stage, and I still love the screen version best of all. I will admit that part of this may be from my own bias that Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best actors I've ever seen. His performance doesn't disappoint in The Crucible either. As John Proctor he adds a realism and deep sympathy to a character, who on paper, I found rather contrived at times. The best lines of the move (the 'because it is my name' speech in particular) are Proctors and Day-Lewis performs them flawlessly. I've seen this movie a dozen times and I still get choked up. Ryder is equally brilliant, delivering her lines with a good sense of the emotion behind them. She plays the conniving harlot quite well. The scenes in which Abigail attempts to further seduce John are very good and Day-Lewis and Ryder work very well together. The actress who plays John's wife does a stellar job with a less-is-more style of acting. She is very stoic, but this doesn't at all bely the emotion of her character. The actress who plays Mary Warren also does an excellent job. In fact, the only actors I didn't like were Putnam adults, who I thought frequently overacted. To anyone who finds this movie boring, I'm afraid it's more of a reflection on them than on the movie. I'll be honest: There are no car chases, nothing is funny, there is no slapstick, guns, or dancing. There about ten seconds of nudity in the first ten minutes, but no sex. This is a character driven narrative with beautifully desolate settings, amazing actors and incredible lines (most of which are in middle English, but way easier than Shakespearian English). This is a double sided semi-historical film referencing both the Salem witch trials (which really happened) and the Mcarthy trials (which also really happened) and drawing allusions between the two of them. If that's above your head, I wouldn't brag about it, you're not actually entitled to be ignorant. The only reason I gave this less than five stars has nothing to do with the movie. It is NOT supposed be historically accurate, I am aware of this, however, many people aren't. Because of this, people think John Proctor was a focal point of the actual trials (he wasn't at all) and that Abigail was a young woman (she was twelve), and that the Putnams only had one child (they had many) etc. This isn't meant to be a historical lesson, and shouldn't be taken as such. If this, however, whets your interest here are some suggested materials: The movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah (also fictionalized but more accurate). Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, "Spellbound: Woman and Witchcraft in America (Worlds of Women), and a PBS video called "Secrets of the Dead - Witches Curse. You could also just check out the History Channel.

The Crucible Available from Amazon Price: $4.99 Updated on 11-3-2008.

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