Review of The Crucible (1996) by Nick B — 01 Apr 2010

80/100. I seem to enjoy even the most mediocre of movies about the supernatural and time pieces that I have studied while in school. The Salem Witch Trials is a topic that I have done many reports on, even a public speaking assignment, so unless the director screwed this movie up big time, I'd probably give it a thumbs-up. This movie was better than mediocre. It portrayed the outrageousness of the time very well. Witchery and evil spirits were feared big time! and hangings for being accused a witch were happening in Boston, Ma during this time. This movie didn't stray and try to do too much- it was very focused. This movie mainly focused on the love triangle of John Proctor (Daniel Day Lewis), his wife and Abigail Williams (Wynona Rider). There was internal conflict by many, including the "town mayor" type guy between the beginning and the end. This movie even addressed the fact that only those touched by the evil spirits could see it- and there was no proof, but the judges did come up with some clever ways of trying to prove guilt or innocence. Kept my attention with the content and great performances by the main characters brought this home.

*** big time spoilers ***.

I do not need to explain the plot in extensive detail- it started with girls dancing and casting innocent spells for boys to fall in love with them, but when they almost get caught and one of the younger girls in attendance gets frightened and pretends to be in a spell-induced sleep, the town immediately jumps to conclusions that it's due to witchery. Since that is the big fad of the time, the "mayor guy" feels that he needs to bring in big famous ministers to calm his town people down- and things begin to spiral out of control when Abigail Williams begins to lie when backed into a corner -- so that she doesn't get in trouble. She points fingers at the black servant woman Tituba, then they all start pointing fingers and saying everyone is signing the devil's book, sending evil spirits to cause harm, etc etc. One of the fathers in town was even accused of having his daughter accuse an old man so that he can buy his land up.

The main story, as mentioned above, surrounds the love triangle of Abigail Williams, John Proctor and Proctor's wife. John Proctor seduced and slept with Abigail Williams in a time before the occurrences of this movie, so he deals with the inner turmoil of hurting his wife and having inappropriately seduced a young girl. You also learn that he has a history of not going to church due to his disagreements with the current pastor (who seems to be out for money more than religion), which clouds his reliability as a credible source when he tries to put an end to the accusations. . As Abigail gets out of hand spinning this spectacle into a big trial with many death warrants signed, the tone switches to one of personal pride and principle- everyone accused- unfounded or not due to the towngirls (lead by Abigail Williams) is given the chance to either confess to walking with the devil and live- or deny the accusations and be sent to death by way of hanging. This leads to a very powerful scene with John Proctor (Daniel Day Lewis) when everybody knows that his views are that the girls are faking and he has never walked with the devil, etc... one of the judges wives are accused and everyone begins to realize that they rushed to judgment, but couldn't necessarily back down... so John Proctor is given the chance to just admit it and have his name displayed as having walked with the devil to live and be a father to his children (making him "not worthy of the dirt on the shoes of those who have already hanged telling the truth")- or still deny it out of pride and principle and die by way of hanging. This scene was about 10-15 minutes long and really brought the movie home down the stretch- real conflict in the face of rediculousness. Great actor Daniel Day Lewis is.

The judges during some trial scenes did bring something to the table as well- there is obviously no way to prove that the girls were really seeing the spirits or not, but they gave John Proctor his chances to stop the insanity going on. These scenes were pretty intense because everyone in town was afraid to do anything to bring themselves to be accused- because it seemed that anything would get them accused- and there was nothing you could do once you were accused but confess or die. The one judge asked for Mary, who confessed that the girls were lying and it was wrong, to try and fake a faint, as she did during the first trial. Mary couldn't do it on the spot, so there goes that chance. Then the main judge guy questioned John Proctor's wife about John Proctor's adultery with Abigail Williams- which would establish motive for Abigail to lie. John Proctor said his wife never lies, but when they ask her if she knew of her husband cheating, she denied it in fear. You wonder what was going through her head at that point- was he to be accused or hanged if she said yes? She blew that shot.

So there were also other things that made this movie great, but this review is long enough. Anyone else have views on this movie? It's definitely worth a rental. They also use old poetic language that sets this apart from most movies. It's not quite Shakespearean, but made you feel like you were really in the late 1600s.