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Witness
1985
After an Amish boy witnesses police corruption in a Philadelphia train station, a hardened cop takes him and his widowed mother back to their quiet Amish community. There, hiding from his crooked superiors, he is witness to a simpler and seductively innocent world. Academy Award Nominations: 8, including Best Picture, Best .. Read more
| Starring | Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Danny Glover, Josef Sommer |
|---|---|
| Director | Peter Weir |
| Genres | Thriller |
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Witness
After an Amish boy witnesses police corruption in a Philadelphia train station, a hardened cop takes him and his widowed mother back to their quiet Amish community. There, hiding from his crooked superiors, he is witness to a simpler and seductively innocent world. Academy Award Nominations: 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor--Harrison Ford. Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing.
| Starring | Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Danny Glover, Josef Sommer, Lukas Haas, Alexander Godunov, Patti Lupone, Timothy Carhart, Viggo Mortensen, Brent Jennings, Ed Crowley, Angus MacInnes, Frederick Rolf, Jan Rubes, William Francis |
|---|---|
| Director | Peter Weir |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 48 mins Watch now: 1 hr 52 mins |
| Certificate | DVD: , Watch Online: |
| Genres | Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English Watch Online: English |
| Dubbed | Czech, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 02 Oct 2000 Watch now: 08 Apr 2009 Production year: 1985 |
| Watch now | £2.49 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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Witness begins like many thrillers, with a murder, this time at a city railway station. The killing is witnessed by a small boy, Lukas Haas, who is a member of the Amish community, a religious sect living in rural Pennsylvania that eschews as much of modern life — notably machinery — as they can. Pursued by the bad guys, the boy and his widowed mother (Kelly McGillis) are protected by a cop (Harrison Ford), who takes them back to their village and awaits the killers' arrival, just as Gary Cooper did in High Noon. Directed by Australian Peter Weir, Witness is partly a love story and partly a thriller, but mainly a study of cultural collision — it's as if the world of Dirty Harry had suddenly stumbled into a canvas by Brueghel. This bucolic world is brilliantly evoked: there is a magical barn-raising scene, a beautiful sequence when an embarrassed yet lustful Ford discovers a half-naked McGillis in the middle of her ablutions, and a telling episode as the Amish endure the hostility of the tourists who gawp at them. The performances are immaculate, with Ford shining in his first serious dramatic role after his action escapades as Han Solo and Indiana Jones. McGillis is perfectly cast, the camera adoring her Nordic beauty beneath her bonnet, and Haas looks suitably wide-eyed and innocent. There are also fine turns by the late Alexander Godunov as McGillis's suitor, and Danny Glover as one of the heavies. Yet it's Weir's delicacy of touch that impresses the most. He ably juggles the various elements of the story and makes the violence seem even more shocking when it's played out on the fields of Amish denial.
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As much about the meeting of cultures as about cops and robbers, this is one of those lucky movies which works out well on all counts and shows that there are still craftsmen lurking in Hollywood.
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Most helpful member's review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Classic Weir
Harrison Ford has done very few films actually worth watching. Peter Weir's Witness is definitely one of them however. Set amongst the backdrop of Amish life as Ford hides from dirty city cop colleagues, he and Kelly McGillis form an unsaid relationship. The clash of two worlds is a perfect arena to play out a difficult love story.
The plot involving McGillis' inocent son witnessing the murder of an undercover police officer does not threaten to override the characters, and ultimately the film does not compromise itself.
Interestingly Peter Weir went to the studio looking for anything with a green light to be shot, and this intersting love story was there waiting for him. Weir's attention to detail and his treatment of a story not overcrowded by characters or dialogue is a pleasure to watch again after 20 years.
After the chaos of recent years in filmic terms this simple piece is both cinematic and personal. Worth another look. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Looks dated...but holds up well
How young is Harrison Ford in this film!??
This is a Classic film that hasn't aged as well as it should have, but it still fantastic to watch, if only to see how young Ford is.
The story is pretty basic - boy sees murder, befriended by Good-guy Cop, is hunted by Bad-guy Cops and everyone goes undercover - in an Amish community.
It's Weir at his very best - the simplness and starkness of the Amish community creates an atmospheric background to the violence and ugliness of the 'modern' world. Ford, McGillis and Haas are all wonderful as their respective characters - Haas, especially has a very 'Elijah Wood' quality to him. There's this great bit where Ford and McGillis's characters are dancing in the barn and Weir has captured the whole playfullness/classh of two cultures/wonder/flirting/sexual chemistry between the two. Amazing.
In added bonuses - there's Glover acting against his normal casting as the likeable second fiddle and a very young Viggo Mortensen - who looks about 15 - as a very minor, but beautiful, extra.
I enjoyed this movie and, if you like your cop drama with abit of a love story thrown in, then you will too. -
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