THE CRUCIBLE MOVIE REVIEW

The Salem witch trials are one among the most significant event in American history.
The trials resembling the Puritans' blind faith of extremely religious. The trial itself
had served as a fertile source of inspiration for numerous movies. As people could
freely create on the provided texture as there were so many things to exploit about the
witch trials. Arthur Miller's ‘The Crucible’ is one of the major masterpieces adapted
from the Salem witch trials. The three major themes addressed in the play are
intolerance, injustice, and, most notably, hysteria, can be very similar to the
McCarthyism of the 1960s, where the whole nation was searching for any communists
in the office. The hysteria of the play “Rather kill mistakenly than to miss one" was
even dramatized in the 1996 movie The Crucible by Nicholas Hytner.

The Crucible had an overall score of 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of
7.3/10. One of the reasons for this success is the setting of the movie, which appeal
the true scenery of the 1600s. The film's setting was captured almost the entire
architecture of the area, as well as the town's wilderness settlement. The clothing worn
by the character is also reminiscent of the late 1600s. Paris, for example, the minister,
was dressed in a linen shirt with a collar and breeches. Or the image of John Proctor, a
hard-working farmer with a black shirt and long coat. The women wear a long dress
under the homespun petticoat and are covered by a long apron. Another A interesting
feature that can be noticed is that every woman is wearing the same type of hat, the
white coif. All of the setting and characters make the audiences fell like they are living
in the timeline of the movies.

The movie begins with a small group of girls being caught naked, chanting in the
wood dancing, and conjuring in a fire during a seance. Among the group, there is one
girl named Abigail who is drinking blood and casting a love spell to kill the wife of
John Proctor, her ex-lover. Their action had caused a major and horrifying trial in
Salem. Satan had appeared and infiltrated them, but not through witchcraft but the
devil manifested itself in their jealousy and accusations of hatred and lies against in
the Salem trial. The story was a little slow for a two-hour film, but it was not that bad.
The speed of the movie was only raised up when Mary is summoned to the court.
While the movie ended with John Proctor being hanged because he did not confess to
witchcraft.

One of the characters that amazed me is Abigail, played by Winona Ryder. To be said,
she has already an interesting character from the original play. As I was surprised by
her manipulation and power to drive the court. It becomes even greater when Winona
Ryder brings her to life. Abbigail’s sexual desire for John Proctor was even more
intense. Thus, we understand more about her intention to separate Elizabeth and John
away and get John back. Additionally, the scene that does not that occur in the
original play is when Abigail visits John Proctor in jail, asking him to run away with
her. Again, this strengthens the psychological aspect of obsession for John Proctor.
Miller used the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for describing the Red Scare and criticizing
McCarthyism, but his purpose in writing this play was not only to express his persecution of
the culture of fear and intolerance. The movie adaptation goes beyond that, it revealed self-
deception to protect oneself, chaos, lust, and the emergence of a selfish society.

Overall, ‘The Crucible movie’ was not a bad movie, it captured almost all the main themes in
the original play. The deception, lies, and accusations in the court system were strongly
related to the hysteria of McCarthyism, although they happened three centuries before
McCarthyism. With accurate setting and characters, the film captures all of the message that
Miller wishes to convey to the people and remains a lesson for modern-day people.