Jul 21 2010
The Crucible Streaming
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Since Miller helped write the screenplay and one of his sons produced or coproduced the movie, it shouldn’t be a shock that the movie is so faithful to the fresh text where it needs to be and broadens the yarn where it needs to, as well. Miller knows how to write for the stage, and he apparently knows how to write for the camouflage, also. After seeing so many “classic” books and/or plays butchered by Hollywood, this movie is a accurate delight, despite its morbid and all-too-realistic tale. This movie has become an primary to my Grade 11 American Literature classes, spectacularly complementing their reading of Miller’s play and several pieces from the Salem Witch Trial era.
Ignoring the play’s historic flaws and inaccuracies (that’s another debate for another time), Miller brilliantly captured the essence of the Salem Witch Trials in his play and has conveyed them to the camouflage. Hatred, terror, jealousy, hypocrisy, religious mania, attention-seeking, conviction, strength, determination, repentance, and a host of other emotions and character traits are vividly brought to life by a first-rate cast: Daniel Day-Lewis is a gargantuan John Proctor (nobody else could have done better), Winona Ryder is very kindly as the conniving and bitter Abigail Williams, Joan Allen was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Elizabeth Proctor, and Paul Scofield should have won an Oscar for his cold-hearted portrayal of Justice Danforth. The conflict between Proctor and Danforth is what sustains the play’s momentum for the second and third acts (about the last hour and fifteen minutes of the movie), and Lewis and Scofield bring that record conflict to life: the classic gracious v. inappropriate, with the sides getting somewhat mixed up as to who is who. . . . Lewis plays the flawed hero to Scofield’s self-righteous and vindictive villain with palpable energy. How Scofield’s performance was overlooked by the Academy is fair another example of their oblivion. He gives me the willies with his methodical, calculating delivery of Miller’s chilling dialogue: “Who weeps for these weeps for corruption” (among a bunch of spacious lines from the play/movie) .
This isn’t simply a play enacted in front of movie cameras (like Death of a Salesman) . The director uses his camera very effectively, capturing some grand close-up moments, novel perspectives and camera angles, and bringing a sense of “bigness” to the whole yarn. The play can seem very isolated, with its sparse sets and black-and-white costumes. Miller also expands the movie to open well before the play does (giving the movie-goer information that he must have assumed the play-reader would already have) and extending it beyond the conviction of Proctor to include his execution, along with that of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. Impartial as a side impress, each of those three was hanged in a separate group in the modern trials-great symbolism from Miller, including each larger recent group of victims in the final trio. Also huge symbolism in Proctor’s Christ-like physical placement in the middle of the two “sinners,” as he takes their sins upon him-the crucifixion is represented very effectively.
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Bottom line: You won’t scrutinize a better adaptation of a play to movie anytime soon. Nothing critical is left out, and some nice details are brought in to give the movie a distinction from its recent source, the play. If you can produce it through this play and not be outraged by the injustice and hypocrisy, then you have a heart as frosty as Danforth’s. What Miller would likely want you to do is apply that outrage to similar situations that go on every day, fair as he intended with his unique play (the McCarthy hearings, the “Red” Apprehension) . At least discover the movie, though.
If you can examine this film and not go through every emotion you beget, then you need to check yourself for a pulse.
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Of course, I’m being a bit humorous with my opening to this review, but the reality is that this is a film that will touch you on every imaginable level if you can glean past the era in which the record takes area and the hysteria of that time period. Rehashing the place is a ruin at this point as almost every student in America has read this play in their 11th grade English class, but this tale is as relevant today as the day it was written and the time in which the yarn takes site.
Arthur Miller wrote this fable as an indictment against McCarthism and although that time has past we unruffled have similar witch hunts today and, sadly, always will. 1970’s had us pointing fingers, thanks to Anita Bryant, anyone we understanding might be a closet homosexual. The 1980’s had us pointing fingers at anyone who had more wealth than we did (remarkable like in “The Crucible”) . The 1990’s had us pointing fingers at family members based on so-called “recovered memories” of sexual abuse (later proven to psychological hogwash, but a clever intention to obtain aid at and smear the name of a family member we didn’t like) . And this century has us pointing fingers at anyone Middle Eastern as a terrorist. I assume immediately after 9/11 our leading law enforcement official, John Ashcroft, going on national television and warning us to be on the explore out for “those that don’t belong.” To me, that was government sanctioned racism at its worst. I was wound by 9/11, but I was wound even more by that reaction to it. This cuts to the heart of Miller’s fable wherein anyone can point a finger at anyone and end a life, a family, a community for personal acquire and that accept can be financial, emotional, political, or whatever. As long as we have people that are motivated by abominate, scare, and power, this tale will remain timeless and will never be irrelevant.
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As far as the performances go, I can’t contemplate of finer acting off the top of my head than those in this film and most especially by Daniel Day-Lewis whose final lines will lag your very soul and Joan Allen who can play some one so icy with such depth of feeling. Like Lewis, her final scenes are unforgettable. You simply can’t amble away from this film the same person you were before you saw it. It is truly that though-provoking. All the supporting cast members are familiar faces and all do an outstanding job, especially Winona Ryder in what is probably the best performance of her young career.
her character’s obsessive and selfish desire to have the one man she can’t sets the ball in motion in this tale and she, sadly, has no accurate regrets. She is conflicted in vivid that her actions are basically nasty, but that they are peaceful somehow justifiable. Ryder truly captures the soul, or lack thereof, of this character. She is wonderful here.
The screenplay is adapted by Miller who wrote the play itself and makes the shift from play to conceal seamlessly. The direction is confident and appropriately claustrophobic. He allows his actors do their thing without heavy handed influence. The regain is terrific and stirring, and the cinematography has almost a documentary feel to it.
Rent or hold this fresh masterpiece; it is expedient of your attention.
One last ticket. So many know this myth, but, surprisingly, few seem to adequately understand it’s title. I idea the below might be helpful:
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “crucible” as:
1. A severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial.
2. A dwelling, time, or space characterized by the confluence of grand bright, social, economic, or political forces.
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