Date: Fri 02-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Illustration: I

Location: A12

Quick Words:

Playing-Crucible-Rider-Miller

Full Text:

(rev "The Crucible" for Now Playing, 5/2/97)

Now Playing-

Missed By Many, `Crucible' Deserves A Second Chance With Area Opening

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Bet you can't guess what is arguably my favorite moment from the films of

1996! No, it wasn't seeing the White House splintered into millions of fiery

pieces Independence Day (though that was pretty cool). It wasn't the sight of

the flying cow in Twister , either (but you have to admit that sticks with

you). It wasn't even Cuba Gooding, Jr's ubiquitous catch phrase, "Show me the

money," from Jerry Maguire (which is only now beginning to wear off). Okay,

you give up? It's the line, "Now we shall touch the bottom of this swamp," as

uttered by Paul Scofield as Judge Danforth, overseer of the explosive with

trials depicted in The Crucible .

What, you say, can this be true?! Nobody saw that film! You're right. Very few

people viewed this motion picture because it was stuck in the middle of the

glut of offerings that hit theatres last November and December. But that can

be rectified when The Crucible finally makes its area premier (only about five

months later!), opening at the Edmond Town Hall theater this weekend. Trust

me, after seeing this re-telling of writer Arthur Miller's 1950s play

(required reading for nearly every high school student in the last few

decades) and the performances given in it, you'll better understand my

enthusiasm for director Nicholas (The Madness of King George) Hytner's vibrant

motion picture version.

The setting is Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, and the talk of the town is

witchcraft. Whispers of what occurs in concealed corners and secret rendezvous

multiply into shouted accusations after Reverend Parris (Bruce Davidson) spies

his niece, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder), and a host of teenage girls

performing an ungodly ritual during the dark of night in secluded woods. The

girls are immediately put on trial as Parris hopes to weed out the devilish

ringleader of these acts and, more importantly, spare his reputation of being

slammed with any aspersions.

Abigail, realizing the situation's volatility, threatens the girls from

confessing their culpability in these matters and instead leads them into

denouncing others and pointing the finger of blame elsewhere. One of the

recipients of their slanderous arrows of accusation is Elizabeth Proctor (Joan

Allen), the devout and proper wife of a farmer, John (Daniel Day-Lewis), whom

Abigail seeks to have as her own. Abigail, formerly the Proctors' servant, was

dismissed by Elizabeth due to a suspected illicit dalliance with John, and now

the manipulative Abigail detects a way of exacting her revenge.

Playwright Arthur Miller's Oscar-nominated screenplay adaptation of his 1950s

work is filled with engrossingly literate dialogue that occasionally flirts

with standing apart and conspicuous as "important prose." Yet it successfully

escapes any danger of paralyzing the audience because of the forceful and

penetrating performances of the cast. Their full immersion into the characters

and language of the script rids Miller's writing of any air of artificiality.

As any high school kid can tell you, Miller originally wrote his play as a

thinly veiled allegory of McCarthyism and the hunt for Communist sympathizers

in the 50s. Yet the naming of names in this big screen rendering translates

into a more general, yet just as piercing, rant against society's mob

mentality and susceptibility to believe lies, innuendo and gossip; the truth

becomes secondary to sensationalism. As the movie's opening sequence depicts,

there is indeed something foul afoot in Salem, but the overzealous pursuit of

this cancer leads to the reckless amputation of those, many of whom are of

more unquestionable character than those leveling the charges, who refuse to

capitulate to unfounded claims.

The Crucible is rated PG-13 for its suggestive opening sequence and references

to an alleged affair between John and Abigail.