The Crucible (1996 film)

The Crucible
The Crucible
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	Nicholas Hytner
Written by	Arthur Miller
Starring	Daniel Day-Lewis; Winona Ryder; Paul Scofield; Joan Allen; Bruce Davison; Rob Campbell; Frances Conroy; Jeffrey Jones
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Edited by	Tariq Anwar
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 27, 1996;
Running time	124 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$7,352,332

The Crucible is a 1996 film written by Arthur Miller and based on his play of the same name. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor. Much of the filming took place on Choate Island in Essex, Massachusetts.

Plot

Early morning in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, the young village girls meet in the woods with a Barbadian slave named Tituba. One, Abigail Williams, kills a chicken, and drinks the blood, wishing for John Proctor's wife to die. But they are suddenly surprised when Abigail's uncle, Reverend Parris (Bruce Davison) come upon them. As the girls run away, Parris' daughter, Betty, falls over unconscious.

Parris questions Abigail about the events that took place in the woods; Betty will not awaken, nor will Ruth, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Putnam, who was also dancing. This strikes Mrs. Putnam hard as she has had seven other children before Ruth who died at childbirth. The Parris house is also visited by Giles Corey, who suspects that the children are just acting their sicknesses, and John Proctor, with whom Abigail had an affair and whose wife she wants dead. Abigail still loves Proctor, but Proctor feels that he made a mistake and leaves her. The Putnams and Reverend Parris believe that Betty and Ruth are demonically possessed, so they call the Reverend Hale from another town, to examine Betty. To save herself and the other girls from punishment, Abigail claims that Tituba was working with the devil. After a brutal whipping, Tituba confesses to being a witch. Struck by their newfound power, the other girls begin naming other women whom they "saw" with the devil. One of these is Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife.

John, determined not to give his lover her vengeance, insists that his servant, Mary Warren, one of the "afflicted" girls, testify in court that the witchcraft was faked. Although Mary Warren is frightened of Abigail, she eventually agrees. In the court, Francis Nurse gives a list of names of people who vouch for the accused; in response, the judges order the arrest of every person on the list so that they can be brought in for questioning. Giles Corey insists that when Ruth Putnam accused Rebecca Nurse, Mr. Putnam was heard to tell his daughter that she had won him a "fine gift of land" (the Nurses' property was coveted by the Putnam family). Corey refuses to give the name of the person who heard this remark, however, as he knows that the person will be arrested. The judges order Corey's arrest. Meanwhile, Mary Warren insists that she only thought she saw spirits. John is told that Elizabeth is pregnant and will be spared from death until the baby is born, but he insists on charging the girls with false witness.

The other girls are called in and asked if they were lying about the witchcraft but cause a commotion, screaming that Mary Warren is putting a spell on them. Proctor, out of pure desperation, confesses to having had an affair with Abigail and that she accused Elizabeth to get rid of her in order to be able to marry him. Elizabeth is called in to see if the accusation is true. However, not knowing that John confessed and wanting to save his reputation, she lies. The girls turn the court further against the Proctors by screaming that Mary Warren is attacking them in the form of a black bird. To save herself from being hanged as a witch, Mary Warren accuses John. When asked if he will return to God, John angrily yells "I say God is dead!" and is arrested as a witch.

On the day before John is to be hanged, Abigail attempts to convince the court that Reverend Hale's wife is also a witch, but this ploy backfires on her when the judges believe that a reverend's wife is too clean to be possessed by Satan. Abigail steals Reverend Parris's money to catch a ship to flee to Barbados, but not before asking John to go with her, telling him she never wished any of this on him. He refuses. On the eve of John's hanging, Parris, fearing that his execution will cause riots in Salem, allows John to meet with Elizabeth to see if she can make her husband "confess" to save his life. John agrees. The judges insist that the confession must be publicly displayed to prove his guilt and to convince others to confess, but John angrily tears up the confession, determined to keep his name pure. He is taken away to be hanged. Before being hanged, he and the other accused recite the Lord's Prayer, with John, as the last one, finishing it. But he is unable to say "Amen" as he is thrown from the scaffold, breaking his neck instantly.

Cast

Reception

The review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes gave it an overall "fresh" rating of 76%.

Awards

Miller was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay and Allen also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The film received nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Paul Scofield) and Best Supporting Actress (Joan Allen) from the Hollywood Foreign Press.
From the International Press Academy The Crucible received nominations in the Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Scofield), and Supporting Actress (Allen) categories.
Joan Allen won Best Supporting Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
Paul Scofield won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. Arthur Miller was nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category.

External links