The Crucible

THE CRUCIBLE

The Crucible Arthur Miller's amazing play, The Crucible, has finally made it to the big screen.It was well-worth the wait! It had been years since I read the play in high school, and I, and some fellow moviegoers, at the Cineplex Odeon in Shirlington, realized we had pretty much forgotten the details of the play (The dumbing down begins).

The Crucible fictionalizes the Salem witch trials that took place in the late 19th century. Miller wrote the play as a parable of the A Red Menace hysteria that struck America during the 1950s. The film explores the danger in a society made so paranoid by fear that it loses its ability to think coherently, its ability to feel empathy, and its ability to adhere to what is right, instead of the sometimes unjust laws and procedures created in the name of justice. It also exposes the true evil that may blossom when ruthless individuals seek power and prestige for its own end, or as revenge upon those who have thwarted them.

Adapted for the screen by Miller himself, the film is as powerful and poignant as the play. The Crucible stars the always raw and intense Daniel Day-Lewis (who recently married Miller's daughter) as John Proctor, the voice of reason and tolerance in a world gone mad. Winona Ryder stars as the twisted chief accuser, Abigail Williams. Joan Allen stars as Proctor's noble wife, Elizabeth. Paul Scofield is also brilliant as the Chief Magistrate.

The performances of the film's lead actors are phenomenal though Ryder is bit too wild-eyed and over-the-top. I have never seen Day-Lewis give a less than stellar performance, and he continues that here. Joan Allen's understated performance enhances her character, whose nature is dignified and reserved (even for 19th century Salem!). Joan Allen is an actress to be watched - she definitely proves that her Oscar-nominated performance in Nixon was not a fluke. Director Nick Hytner also deserves a mention for creating a dynamic sexually-charged version of the Miller classic, instead of a dreary period piece.

One thing that comes through clear in The Crucible is that sexual repression can really fuck people up. My one criticism of Miller's story, is that despite its valuable message, the film has misogynistic overtones. All of the accusers are women or girls on the edge of womanhood. These women are portrayed as dangerous hysterics whose primal nature and appetites are a thing to be feared by good Christian men everywhere. But aren't all women genetically designed to be deceitful creatures back to the first woman, Eve, who tempted the righteous Adam? Frankly, I'm sick of that tired old message that it's a sin for women to want sexual pleasure and that we should just lie back and not enjoy it.