THE CRUCIBLE (1996) ** Arthur Miller's play is a kind of "Emperor's New Clothes" for good actors that you aren't quite sure about: he endows them with huge lines, and the accompanying challenge as to whether they're up to the task. This crew isn't. I'm a bit surprised about Daniel Day-Lewis, I thought that he might be, but during his greatest moments of consternation he evokes emotions more akin to snickering than cosmic terror. I'm not particularly surprised about Winona Ryder-she has little trouble with the difficult language but still somehow manages to suggest that she's about to order (and then perhaps steal) a Big Mac at any moment. The result is that much of what makes the play special is lost. The idiocy of the townsfolk is apparent enough, and importantly so at a moment when the world's great religions have simultaneously rediscovered conformity as a paramount virtue. The communication failures run even deeper, though. There is little sense that Ryder, by partaking in the ridiculous ritual, has sealed her fate through a truly evil one at the hands of the government. When the immortal line about evil being on the loose in Salem is uttered, there's more a sense of it pointing inaccurately to the actions of the innocent, than to the rudderless sensibilities of the herd. Miller's subjective reference to the McCarthy Witch Hunts is entirely lost, but then it would be, wouldn't it? Without the range and fullest magnitude of Miller's sensibilities the result is that Day-Lewis appears foolish, rather than heroic, in the climactic scenes. Why, one wonders, doesn't he just do what he needs to do, and then put together a guerilla band, or agnostic commune, in the hills? Would have been a nice role for Maurice Evans or Richard Burton.
back to Brilliant Observations on 2120 Films page, or Index
go back home, or send me email
Reviews won't do it any more! I need sustained brilliance! I want to buy your exciting new terrorist novel!
I've already read both of your novels. Thank you, they're amazing. Now I want to check out your weekly blog on everything