The Crucible

THE CRUCIBLE:

Ready to be brought back to Salem? Back to the days when witches were seen as a very real threat to society? Back to the struggles, people of all ages felt? Well get ready because as you watch Nicholas Hytner’s film adaptation of Arthur Miller’s well known play The Crucible you will find yourself magically immersed into the world of Salem 1862 and along the way to entertainment you will be shocked at how brutally true this moment in history is portrayed. Starring Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis as main characters Abigail Williams and John Proctor things get steamy and scary for the tight knit Puritans.

The Crucible stayed pretty true to its written piece, which worked well as an interesting plot line. To viewers of the twentieth century how can we not be interested in people legit ally crying witch on their neighbors in hopes that they would be hung – and even worse it was actually working! If your stomach is light be warned, Nicholas Hytner took it upon himself to make sure that we felt that pain and anguish that the characters of the time were feeling, using the availability of a camera to his advantage- something Arthur Miller couldn’t exactly touch just through speech. Hytner chose to show specific scenes where Miller had hinted at violence and pinpoint a magnifying lens on them, which worked really well at bringing the audience into the character’s specific emotions. For instance when Hale and Parris go to confront Tituba Hytner decided to have the men whip her until she confessed to witchcraft something that would not have had the same impact had Miller included it in the play. Another strong directorial choice was choosing to show the hangings. This provides the viewers with a clear impression of how they victims felt and the hysteria of the town itself.

Not only did The Crucible make interesting film choices but characters ones as well. I found most of the actors to be really well suited for their roles. Winona Ryder played the part of Abigail, the crazed teenager leading the group of girls in order to get closer to the man she loves John Proctor played by Daniel Day-Lewis. John was just the perfect amount of rugged rebel and just enough justice defender that I had imagined for the part. It’s easy to believe that he could have been having an affair with the free spirited Abigail but at te same time he is so likeable because you can tell he knows what he did in the past was wrong.

Nicholas Hytner seemed to have made very many clear choices in his filming techniques particularly in the Elizabeth Proctor trial. Every piece of the scene was so meticulously thought