The Crucible (1996)

Director:

Nicholas Hytner

Writers (WGA):

Arthur Miller (play)
Arthur Miller (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 noviembre 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Frase comercial:

Arthur Miller's timeless tale of truth on trial.

Plot:

A 17th-century Salem woman accuses an ex-lover's wife of witchery in an adaptation of the Arthur Miller play.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Needle | Female Rear Nudity | Husband Wife Relationship | Blood

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 10 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Not just a dynamic character study, but a study of madness. **** (out of four)

US TV Schedule:

Mon. May 19

4:00 PM

HBO

Cast

Daniel Day-Lewis	...	John Proctor
Winona Ryder	...	Abigail Williams
Paul Scofield	...	Judge Thomas Danforth
Joan Allen	...	Elizabeth Proctor
Bruce Davison	...	Reverend Parris
Rob Campbell	...	Reverend Hale
Jeffrey Jones	...	Thomas Putnam
Peter Vaughan	...	Giles Corey
Karron Graves	...	Mary Warren
Charlayne Woodard	...	Tituba
Frances Conroy	...	Ann Putnam
Elizabeth Lawrence	...	Rebecca Nurse
George Gaynes	...	Judge Samuel Sewall
Mary Pat Gleason	...	Martha Corey
Robert Breuler	...	Judge Hathorne

También conocida como:

Crisol, El (Spain) [es]

Duración:

124 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby

Clasificación:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #34461) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

"Old" United Shoe Factory - 181 Elliott Street, Beverly, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivialidades:

Melanie Lynskey auditioned for the role of Abigail Williams.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Elizabeth Proctor is being brought to the court, the left rear wheel of the cart is not spinning.

Quotes:

Rev. John Hale: Do you know your commandments, Mr. Proctor?
John Proctor: Aye.
Rev. John Hale: Would you recite them please?
John Proctor: The commandments?
Rev. John Hale: Aye.
John Proctor: Thou shalt not kill.
Rev. John Hale: Aye.
John Proctor: Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods, nor covet thy neighbors wives, thou shalt have no other Gods before me, thou shalt not use the Lord's name in vain, thou shalt keep holy the sabbath day, thou shalt honor thy mother and father, thou shalt not bare to false witness... thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wives.
Rev. John Hale: You said that one twice, Sir.
John Proctor: Aye.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Now & Forever (2002)

Soundtrack:

The Yanvalou Chant

Not just a dynamic character study, but a study of madness. **** (out of four)

For my eleventh grade English class, I have just finished reading "The Crucible" and have also finished watching the movie adaptation. "The Crucible" which was written by Arthur Miller, is a shocking look into the events of a tragic period early in history that America will not likely forget. The setting of "The Crucible" is that it takes place in the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The story revolves around the hysteria caused by the Salem Witch Trials. John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), the story's protagonist (or should I say antagonist?), is facing a little bit of a moral dilemma. It turns out that Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder), Proctor's former servant girl and mistress, along with several other young girls, were caught out in the woods dancing. Apparently, from the evidence, Witchcraft was taking place. John's wife, Elizabeth (Joan Allen), is suffering because of his lechery, but deep down thinks that she may be partially responsible. Reverend Parris (Bruce Davison) calls for Reverend Hale (Rob Campbell), a renowned pastor (and self-proclaimed paranormal expert) to come to Salem to investigate the accusations.

John Proctor is sort of an innocent in this story. In the beginning of the play, we see that he is deeply haunted by the affair, but he keeps his head up about it. He is powerful of body, even-tempered and not easily led or quick to jump to conclusions. He changes significantly because he begins to lower his self-esteem, especially after he looses control over his current servant girl, Mary Warren. His change furthers because he later admits his sins, which leads to his inevitable imprisonment. While in prison, he learns that his wife has become pregnant, and therefore she will not be hanged. In the end, John is hanged after signing a confession and then ripping it up when he learns that it was to be nailed onto the church door. However, he did not die in bad spirits because he had accepted the fact that he was not coming out of this situation alive but his name would go untarnished. Proctor pleas before his execution, "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!"

Elizabeth Proctor is sort of an innocent too. At the very start of the play, we see that she is a rather soft-spoken person, even with her past grievances. As well, she is an honest person who always tells the truth and never lies. She changes, however, when Abigail Williams brings charges of Witchcraft up against her. Her physical change starts when she discovers that she is pregnant. By the end of the play, she forgives John for his lechery. She states, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" This simply goes to show that she truly loved him in the end.

Lastly, there is Reverend Hale. At the beginning of the play, we see that he is a very confident man. He seems to consider himself an expert in the field of Witchcraft and goes about promoting that image with the aid of his countless books. The books, he thinks will solve all of the problems facing Salem. When Reverend Parris makes a comment about how heavy his books are, Hale simply replies, "They must be; they are weighted with authority." This goes to show that he puts too much faith into his books and not enough into common sense. His emotional change begins when the good and well-respected people of the Salem community start being accused of Witchcraft, like when Abigail Williams charges Elizabeth Proctor as being a witch. By the end of the play, he discovers that all of the accusations were in fact a hoax, orchestrated by Abigail Williams who shortly before the end of the trials, mysteriously disappears along with Mercy Lewis. He feels deep regret and extreme guilt for not trying to stop the madness sooner. He is also begging John Proctor to save his life, regardless of the possible aftermath in which his name is going to be corrupted.

In many ways, the story of "The Crucible" may not just be a dynamic character study, but it is also a study of the madness that can stem from superstition and fear. It simply amazes me that one little girl was able to use fear and superstition as a means of getting what she wanted. The madness that had been created by the Salem Witch Trials was not just the result of people's greed, but jealousy and all-out hatred for one another. And you must remember that this is coming from a religious community that had come to this country to escape hatred, though it was not the same type as it was the reason for them leaving Europe.

For many bizarre reasons, "The Crucible" has also been the unfortunate target of misguided criticism. These criticisms, I feel, are the unfortunate result of the Joseph McCarthy era. In 1950, McCarthy who was a senator from Wisconsin had engaged on a "Red Hunt", which to him, was a hunt for suspected Communist Party members and spies inside the U.S. State Department. Though this was relatively early in the Cold War, he had played on Americans already stemming fears of the Soviet Union in order to help rally people to flesh out the suspected persons. Many of the people who were accused, lost their jobs and had extreme difficulty finding employment elsewhere. McCarthy, like many of the people during the Salem Witch Trials, had engaged on this hunt out of sheer hatred and jealousy of other people. And like when the Trials finally came to an end when the governor's wife had been accused of Witchcraft, McCarthy met his downfall in 1954, when he began attacking members of the United States Army. The Army immediately took dislike to the accusations and struck back at McCarthy. His power finally fell through when then President Dwight Eisenhower launched his own investigation into the accusations and found nothing. McCarthy later died in 1957 of alcohol-related problems.

Do you see all of the parallels between the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the McCarthy era during the 1950s? These are perfect examples of the horrible things that people are capable of doing to each other out of the pure hatred and the accusers will often succeed in doing this by playing on people's fears and local superstition.