THE CRUCIBLE
US, 1996, 123 minutes, Colour.
Daniel Day Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield, Joan Allen, Jeffrey Jones, Bruce Davison, George Gaines.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Arthur Miller's 1953 classic touched a nerve with its symbolising the witch-hunt atmosphere of the Mc Carthy era. Here it is given 1990s treatment with a screenplay by Miller himself - 81 at the time of the movie's release - and directed by, Nicholas Hytner from the London theatre, whose film directing debut was The Madness of King George. The film is visually striking, wild Massachusetts locations for the 1692 setting of Salem village.
The witchcraft trials of Salem have made an indelible mark on the American psyche. A religiously puritan community, faced with some of the young girls of the remote village dancing in the woods and playing at spells, unleashed a movement of fanaticism and superstition, of persecution and manipulative court cases and executions that have become a symbol for a righteous community revealed has having a destructive and dark side. Winona Ryder is believable as Abigail Williams, the sexually aware servant whose malevolence grows as she controls the justice in Salem.
Miller has emphasised the `sexual politics' as well as the communal fanaticism in this version. But his portrait of the `Everyman', John Proctor, is a fine exploration of an ordinary man, a sinning man, a repenting man, a man who finds his integrity. The final sequence, with its religious imagery and prayer, is jolting.
Daniel Day Lewis gives yet another different, strong performance as Proctor, matched by Joan Allen as his wife, who is not the merely shrewish woman of some interpretations. Paul Scofield is Judge Danforth who embodies the contradictions in Puritan religion and justice. Both Lewis and Scofield have some powerful speeches in what Hytner calls Arthur Miller's `sculpted prose'. The Crucible is as relevant as it was in the 1950s and is a warning that true religious discernment is needed rather than egocentric and fundamentalist righteousness.
1.The work of Arthur Miller? His play as an American classic? Its status in the 1950s? Its later reputation?
2.The play as an allegory of intolerance? The historical background? McCarthyism? and unAmerican activities in the '50s? Continued relevance for societies and intolerance and persecution?
3.Arthur Miller adapting the play for the screen? Making the film cinematic? Opening it out? Action? The strength of the original dialogue?
4.The director and his work in the theatre? The staging of the action? The blend of theatre and cinema? The strength of the cast?
5.The atmosphere of Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century, the 1690s, decor and costumes, lighting, the village, the countryside, the ocean?
6.The houses of the period, the interiors, the light and dark? The church? The law courts?
7.The musical score and its atmosphere?
8.Witchcraft and its being considered irreligious in the 17th century? The tradition of the church with witchcraft, religious dimensions, belief in the Devil, the cruelty towards witches?
9.The opening and setting the plot: the girls in the woods, night, out by themselves, the experience with Tituba, the incantations, the dancing, the hysteria? Their age, the sexuality, the peer pressure, the potion? Rebelling against the authorities?
10.The Puritan background of the community, the Calvinist tradition of predestination? Grace and prosperity being the sign of predestination? Greed and religion intertwined? The settling of scores via religion? Victimising people in society?
11.The Reverend Paris, in himself, his ministry, family, love for Betty? Care for Abigail? His seeing the activity in the woods, his reaction, disgust, concern? His interrogation and beating of Tituba? His religious motivations, concern about his family, reputation? His taking the issues to the courts, his alleged seeking of the truth, his sermons, speeches, exercise of power? Settling scores? Judge Danforth's final rebuke of him?
12.The focus on Abigail, in the woods, her leadership? An orphan, cared for by Paris, working with the Proctors? Her influence on the other girls? Strength of character, domination? The affair with John Proctor, her clash with Elizabeth, her suspicions of Elizabeth and the breaking of the affair? Working in the house? The interrogations, her feigning innocence, her abilities to conceal her thoughts and her feelings? Her behaviour in the court, leading the girls, her speeches, the dramatising of the fainting and the collapse, the seeing of spirits? Truth and lies? Her pressurising Mary Warren? The hysteria, going to John Proctor, her love for him, her motivation, her malice?
13.The role of confessions and citizens naming witches? The drama of the confessions, the psychological pressure, motivations? The range of victims and the mental and physical torture?
14.The Reverend Hale and his background, his shock at what had happened, his instituting the hearings, his listening, interviews, discussions with the Proctors? His growing belief in the innocence of the victims?
15.John Proctor as a citizen of Salem, his farm, his relationship with his wife and children, an upright man? The weakness of his affair with Abigail? His decision to end it and her response? The reconciliation with Elizabeth? Arguing with Abigail? A decent man, tempted, but trying to do the right thing?
16.His relationship with Elizabeth, a woman of integrity, severe in her manner and beliefs? Running her household? Sternness towards Abigail? Forgiving? Loving John, her resisting Abigail? The arrest, the doll - and Abigail's wound? The use of the dolls and the overtones of black magic for creating victims? Her being taken off, imprisoned, interrogated? Her wanting to protect her husband and so shielding him - but making him guilty in the eyes of the court?
17.Mary Warren, the dolls, her telling the truth, her inability to collapse, yet Abigail's control and her going back with the girls?
18.Judge Danforth and his authority, religious beliefs, theological background, the administration of justice in Massachusetts, his conducting of the trials? His believing the girls? The belief in the Devil and the manifestations? His listening, discussions, his righteousness, his doubts? His rebuke of Paris?
19.The characters of the girls, their place in society, their behaviour in the court, the frenzy and the communication of hysteria, the judge's response?
20.Those arrested and their backgrounds, their place in Salem society: Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey? Characters, victims, the injustice, the imprisonment, executions?
21.The viciousness of the executions? A religious society and its brutality?
22.Abigail and her desperation, taking the Reverend Paris's money, visiting John Proctor in the jail, wanting him to go away with her? His resistance of her and staying in jail?
23.Hale and his growing concern? John Proctor and his need for a decision, Elizabeth leaving it to him? His decision to sign? The blow to his integrity? His decision to change, his condemnation, his recitation of the Lord's Prayer and his execution?
24.A dramatic experience of a famous chapter of American history? The influence of the Salem experience and trials? The messages for the United States and other societies in the '90s?
