Nicholas Hytner
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Rather than either recapitulating the political finger-wagging that usually accompanies depictions of religious hysteria (best exemplified in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible) or simply exploiting witchcraft for its shock value, the film burrows deep into both genuine spiritual horror and the manner in which abject fear divides us (which is a real political lesson for our current divided culture).
At least since Marion L. Starkey’s 1949 study The Devil in Massachusetts (an inspiration for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible), pop culture has taken a more Freudian view of Puritan-era witchcraft sagas, putting the blame on patriarchs whose fear of women’s sexuality becomes rage against female self-expression (or, with Miller, McCarthyist hysteria).
The intention seems to have been to stake out a patch of land adjacent to The Crucible’s superstitious terrain and thereupon cultivate something a little more genre-minded: the closest reference point would be M. Night Shyamalan ’s maligned The Village, albeit without the crackerbarrel twist.
But whereas most fiction surrounding the Witch Trials (most notably Arthur Miller’s The Crucible) focuses on the power of hysteria to convince even the most pragmatic people that such nonsense is true, Eggers chooses to dig deeper, questioning the bedrock of such hysteria.
Just as easily, however, given the film’s self-advertised stabs at historical accuracy, one could read this singular shocker as something even more disturbing: a kind of fright-flick answer to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, presenting a revisionist national history in which true evil exists and religious hysteria is the proper response to it.
This will help your ear accept speech that can sound as wooden as anything in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, but that occasionally erupts with rich, ornate verbosity.
The King's Speech (2010)
Directed by Tom Hooper
influenced by The Madness of King George (1994)
Characters Themes
The push-pull of this relationship recalls the dynamic between Nigel Hawthorne and Ian Holm in The Madness of King George; like that previous George, Albert must seem a king, not by becoming sane but by speaking clearly.
Peeks behind the velvet curtain at scenes of royal travail can be involving, witness 1994's "The Madness of King George," and this story is exceptionally moving as well.
It is the work of a highly talented group of artists who might be regarded as British realists – Tom Hooper directed the soccer epic The Damned United ; Eve Stewart was production designer on Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake ; Jenny Beavan was responsible for the costumes worn in Gosford Park and The Remains of the Day ; the cinematographer Danny Cohen lit Shane Meadows's This is England and Dead Man's Shoes ; Tariq Anwar's editing credits range from The Madness of King George to American Beauty ; and the screenplay is by the British writer David Seidler, who co-wrote Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream .
There’s a definite eeriness to the masculine vocalizations of Jesus through her person in sequences which recall the hysteria of The Crucible (1996).
What's rewarding in "Hugo" instead are the details - snow falling in 3D, the parallel between the automaton and the Inspector's faulty leg brace and the three generations of romance (the Inspector crushes on flower seller Lisette (Emily Mortimer, "Shutter Island") while Cafe owner Madame Emilie's (Frances de la Tour, "The History Boys") dachshund Schatzi wards off the attentions of Monsieur Frick (Richard Griffiths, "The History Boys")) - and even more importantly, its paean to silent cinema, the stuff of dreams where the very first film, "L'arrive D'un Train a la Ciotat," inspires a nightmare, Harold Lloyd haunts an escape sequence and an old master's lost works are found.
…a setting that gives events a tension that recalls The Crucible, even if it never reaches those heights…
…a gripping battle over the exorcism of a child manages to be part-Quincy, part-The Crucible…
Back in 2015, Robert Eggers delighted critics with the flesh-pecking horror of The Witch , a directorial feature debut which blended the theatrics of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with shades of M. Night Shyamalan and the more grizzly adaptations of Stephen King.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Directed by David Yates
influenced by The Crucible (1996)
Themes Characters Visuals
At the other end of the spectrum is Mary Lou (Samantha Morton), the severe leader of an anti-magic group known as the Second Salemers, who resemble refugees from a future touring production of “The Crucible.”
Samantha Morton's puritanical zealot Mary Lou (appearing as if she just came out of auditions for "The Crucible") not only persecutes magic folk, she takes her hatred out on her severely abused, adopted maj son Credence (Ezra Miller).
Outfitted like a character out of “The Crucible,” Barebone steals/adopts children from the magic families she exposes, but doesn’t keep nearly a close enough eye on her own kids, leaving room for her deeply troubled “son” Credence (Ezra Miller) to hold private meetings with a powerful — and power-hungry — auror, Percival Graves (Colin Farrell).
While I hate to see an actress as charming as Saldana disappear into the skin of a technogimmick, looking at the graceful, stretched-out blue creature she's been transformed into, I could see traces of the same performer who so daintily stubbed out a cigarette with her pink toe shoe in the 2000 teen ballet drama "Center Stage."
Inherent Vice (2014)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
influenced by The History Boys (2006)
Dialogue
To borrow a line from The History Boys, “it’s as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.”
…spills over in a scene that plays like The Crucible in a community centre…
Among the suspects, From Hell rounds up high-class characters played by such distinguished British actors as Ian Richardson (Dark City), Ian Holm (The Madness of King George), and Terence Harvey (Secrets and Lies).
Moore's story addresses only a few key theories, including the possible involvement of Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert, and the queen's personal physician, William Gull -- the latter masterfully portrayed by veteran actor Ian Holm ("The Madness of King George," "Chariots of Fire").
As the intergalactic civil war heats up, Burger intelligently blends the primal tribal instincts of The Lord of the Flies with The Crucible ’s commentary on people’s susceptibility to superstition in the face of fear, mixing in his own interests in superhuman abilities ( Limitless ; Divergent ).
United 93, Children of Men, The Queen, London To Brighton and The History Boys made 2006 a banner year for British cinema, and if Hot Fuzz is any guide the streak isn't over yet.