Eli Lapp: “This gun of the hand is for the taking of human life. We believe it is wrong to take a life. That is only for God. Many times wars have come and people have said to us: you must fight, you must kill, it is the only way to preserve the good. But Samuel, there’s never only one way. Remember that.”
One of the loveliest moments in cinema takes place about halfway through the movie “Witness” (1985). John Book (Harrison Ford) is trying to get his car – which is now hidden in a barn – to start again. The radio is playing an oldies station. The Amish lady Rachel, who has been sheltering him in her home, is holding a gas lantern in her hand. Sam Cook’s “Wonderful World” starts to play. “Ahh, this is great,” John says with a big smile on his face. “This is the best.” He grabs the lantern and places it on the hood of the car, humming the lyrics of the song. She steps out of the car as well. He starts moving towards her – and a bit scared she starts moving away from him – their eyes interlocked. He moves closer, and she’s concerned. It’s against her way of living. He gently grabs her hand, and she beams. They start to dance – something she’s never done before. “Don’t know much about history,” he sings. Two different worlds coming together.
“Witness” marked Australian auteur Peter Weir’s first foray in America, after making an international impact with “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975) and “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1982). What was marketed as a crime thriller becomes something richer and more welcomed. It’s a rumination on two cultures living for centuries side by side. It’s the best kind of love story – because you know it’s impossible for them to come together both culturally and religiously. It’s also a study of a simpler way of life – and values – juxtaposed against a harsh modern world. It’s a film that will stay with you, especially now – for its themes will resound louder to us after our seven months of living dangerously.
From the moment the film starts, the music by master (and David Lean collaborator) Maurice Jarre sets the tone. There’s a sight of green fields being caressed by the wind. Appearing through the grass, we notice people dressed in clothing that looks historical. The title card tells us that it’s Pennsylvania 1984.
Rachel – who has recently lost her husband – embarks on a trip with her eight year old son, Samuel – to Baltimore. While on a stop at the 30th Street Station in Philadephia, the boy goes to the men’s room and witnesses an undercover cop being murdered by two of his fellow officers. Detective John Book shows up to investigate and retains Rachel and Samuel overnight. While at the police station, Samuel sees a photo of detective James McFee and tells Book – who understands that this is a bigger conspiracy. He shares this information with the Chief. On his way to his car, there’s an attempt to take John’s life. He takes Rachel and Samuel to safety back in Amish country, but he’s been wounded. Until he’s healed he conceals himself amongst them – posing as an Amish man.
The murder and its resolution is inconsequential. The heart of the story is the relationship between Rachel and John – as well as his discovery of their way of living. There’s no electricity. The clothing is about humility. And most importantly, this is a pacifist community, which goes directly against John’s nature. The movie is part Hitchcock and part Terrence Mallick.
Weir shows great curiosity about and fascination for this world. Working with cinematographer John Seale, they recreate Dutch painter Vermeer’s lighting and composition to show us interior scenes of the Amish domestic life. There’s an awe-inspiring sequence where the community gets together to do a barn raising. At some point there’s a long shot of all the men dispersed all over the beams busy at work. It is a stunning visual. There’s no music – only the rhythmic sound of hammers and children playing in the background.
Ford has never been better for he’s rarely been given the chance to have such a juicy dramatic role. He conveys so much with his physicality. There’s a very erotic moment where Kelly McGillis offers herself to him – and he turns her down for he knows the consequences. It’s all done with his expression. Patti Lupone and Danny Glover both have small but memorable roles in the film.
John Book: “If we’d made love last night I’d have to stay. Or you’d have to leave.”
Love,
Roger
Available to stream on STARZ via Cable/Satellite Provider, via Hulu and Prime Video. Available to rent on Amazon Prime, Microsoft, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, Redbox, FandangoNOW and Apple TV.
Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley
Story by Pamela Wallace, Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley
Directed by Peter Weir
Starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Jan Rubes, Alexander Godunov, Danny Glover, Patti LuPone, Angus MacInnes, Viggo Mortensen and Frederick Rolf
112 minutes
Director Peter Weir on Bringing “Witness” to the Screen
“…l had to settle in with a major star, Harrison Ford, and with the studio. I took some precautions that I think helped me feel comfortable that I’d have control of what I was doing. The meeting with Harrison went well, and then I had a meeting with Jeff Katzenberg and his associates at Paramount, and he offered me the picture. And then I set what was, in a way, a test for them. I said, ‘Thank you, but first can I tell you the story?’ And Jeff said, ‘You want to pitch me a movie we’ve just offered you?’ ‘No, I just want to tell you the story so you’ll know what I’m going to do.’ This probably goes back to the performing side of my early career. So I gave them a little radio show, in a way: ‘We open with wheat fields blowing and through the fields come people in 19th-century costume, characters rolling down the road to a distant farmhouse…’ And so on. As I was telling the story I began to see gaps in it, so I went back to my hotel room and made notes about scenes that needed to be rewritten or added. I’ve done something like this on every movie since, either told someone the story or recorded it. It was useful for me, and at that meeting it also put me front and center, as the director should be.” (dga.org)
About Composer Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre was born on September. 13, 1924, in Lyon, France. He wrote the music sound tracks for more than 150 motion pictures, of which 3 – “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), and “A Passage to India” (1984)—earned him the Academy Award for best original score and another 5 – “Les Dimanches de Ville d’Avray” (1962; “Sundays and Cybele”), “The Message” (1976), “Witness” (1985), “Gorillas in the Mist” (1988), and “Ghost” (1990)—received nominations for the score. For many people, however, his best-known work was the balalaika-infused song “Lara’s Theme,” which was drawn from the “Doctor Zhivago” score. Jarre studied engineering at the Sorbonne before transferring to the Paris Conservatory, and he served as music director for the Théâtre National Populaire for more than a decade. His first movie sound track was for the short documentary “Hôtel des Invalides” (1952), and he was soon in demand by filmmakers on both sides of the Atlantic. Although Jarre was especially known for his lush melodies, he was sensitive to the needs of the script and often incorporated exotic motifs, ethnic instruments, and electronic effects to enhance the drama onscreen. His varied film scores include “The Longest Day” (1962), “Paris brûle-t-il?” (1966; “Is Paris Burning?”), “Ryan’s Daughter” (1970), “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” (1972, including the Oscar-nominated song “Marmalade, Molasses & Honey”), “The Man Who Would Be King” (1975), “Die Blechtrommel” (1979; “The Tin Drum”), “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1982), “Dead Poet’s Society” (1989), and “A Walk in the Clouds” (1995). He also composed symphonic music and scores for such television films as “Uprising” (2001). Jarre was an officer of the Legion of Honour, and in February 2009 he was awarded the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement. (britannica.com)
About Cinematographer John Seale
Cinematographer John Seale, ASC, ACS, was born in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. His first credits as a camera operator included several films directed by fellow Australian Peter Weir, including “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” (1975) and “Gallipoli” (1981). Soon after Weir moved to the United States, Seale joined him on the project “Witness,” (1985), directed by Weir, and garnered his first Oscar nomination for cinematography. Since then, Seale has earned more than 40 credits as a cinematographer, and worked with directors such as Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Cold Mountain”), Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”), Rob Reiner (“The American President,” “Ghosts of Mississippi”) and Michael Apted “(Gorillas in the Mist”) to name a few. His awards are numerous, including four Oscar nominations and one win (for “The English Patient”), four ASC Award nominations and one win (also for “The English Patient”), three awards. Seale was recently honored by the American Society of Cinematographers with the ASC International Award, which was presented on February 13, 2011. (panavision.com)
About Director Peter Weir
Peter Weir was born on August 21, 1944, in Sydney, Australia…Weir grew up in a suburb of Sydney. After briefly attending the University of Sydney, he traveled to Europe in 1965. By the time he returned to Australia the following year, he had decided on a career in entertainment. Weir began working as a stagehand for a television network, where he and other employees made short films for fun. Beginning in 1969, he worked for the government-funded Commonwealth Film Unit as a cameraman and director. Weir struck out on his own in 1973, and his first feature film, the comic-horror “The Cars That Ate Paris” (1974), which he also wrote, received some critical notice. He won an international audience with the haunting and atmospheric “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), followed by “The Last Wave” (1977), for which he also cowrote the screenplay and which was reviewed more favourably in the United States than in Australia. The World War I drama “Gallipoli” (1981), based on a story by Weir and starring Mel Gibson, won eight Australian Film Institute awards and burnished Weir’s international reputation. His last Australian production, which he cowrote as well as directed, was the masterful “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1982). The drama was set in Indonesia around the time of the overthrow of President Sukarno and starred Gibson and Linda Hunt. In 1985 Weir directed his first Hollywood film, “Witness,” a character-driven thriller for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He continued to earn acclaim with films such as “Dead Poets Society” (1989), a drama set in a boys’ preparatory school in the 1950s, “The Truman Show” (1998), a fable about the tyranny of the media, and “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2003), a seafaring epic based on the series by Patrick O’Brian and cowritten by Weir; the movies all earned Weir Oscar nominations for best director. His other films included “The Mosquito Coast” (1986), “Green Card” (1990), “Fearless” (1993), and “The Way Back” (2010). (britannica.com)