Then there's always Mr. Scofield, bringing an almost unbearable, yet entirely believable, lightness of spirit to his loathsome character. It's a bold stroke by a great actor, making zealotry and evil seem positively beneficent.
The Crucible
Arthur Miller's timeless tale of truth on trial.
1996 · 2h 3m · PG-13
Drama, History
Directed by
Nicholas Hytner
Overview
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
Director and cast
- Nicholas Hytner Director
- Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor
- Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams
- Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth
- Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor
- Bruce Davison as Reverend Parris
- Rob Campbell as Reverend Hale
- Charlayne Woodard as Tituba
- Frances Conroy as Ann Putnam
- Elizabeth Lawrence as Rebecca Nurse
- Mary Pat Gleason as Martha Corey
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
I recommend Hytner's movie highly, but a part of me resists a work that makes the audience feel as noble in our moral certainty as the characters it invites us to deplore. Some part of its power seems borrowed from the thing it hates.
Her cheeks flush, her winsome beauty seared with erotic rage, Ryder exposes the real roots of the piece. Forget McCarthyism; The Crucible is a colonial Fatal Attraction.
Too bad, though, that The Crucible fails to probe deeper into the sexual, religious, and political conditions that can give false accusations so much power -- even today.
Arthur Miller's screenplay keeps everything nice and faithful to the period, and the actors have the dirt on their hands to prove it. The movie lacks polish as well, and that's to everyone's benefit.
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