Witness (1985)

When a young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder, policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial.

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

William Kelley (story by), Pamela Wallace (story by)

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas

Won 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	John Book
Kelly McGillis	...	Rachel
Josef Sommer	...	Schaeffer
Lukas Haas	...	Samuel
Jan Rubes	...	Eli Lapp
Alexander Godunov	...	Daniel Hochleitner
Danny Glover	...	McFee
Brent Jennings	...	Carter
Patti LuPone	...	Elaine
Angus MacInnes	...	Fergie
Frederick Rolf	...	Stoltzfus
Viggo Mortensen	...	Moses Hochleitner
John Garson	...	Bishop Tchantz
Beverly May	...	Mrs. Yoder
Ed Crowley	...	Sheriff

Storyline

An 8 year old Amish boy and his mother are traveling to Philadelphia, on their way to visit the mother's sister. While waiting at the train station, the young boy witnesses a brutal murder inside one of the bathroom stalls. Police detective John Book is assigned to investigate the murder of the man, who was a undercover cop. Soon after, Book finds out that he's in great danger when the culprits know about his investigation and hides out in the Amish community. There, he learns the way of living among the Amish locals, which consists of non-violence and agriculture. Book soon starts a romance with the mother of the little boy, but their romance is forbidden by the Amish standards. But, it's not long before the bad guys find out Book's whereabouts.

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Plot Keywords:

amish | murder | train | love | police | 

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Taglines:

8 year old Samuel: sole witness to a murder. Three killers who'll stop at nothing to silence him. One honest cop who'll give his life to save him...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

8 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Called Home

Filming Locations:

30th Street Station - 3001 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Edward S. Feldman Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Harrison Ford and Peter Weir developed such a good working relationship that Ford immediately signed on to star in Weir's next project The Mosquito Coast (1986).

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Goofs

As stated in the script, Old-Order Amish people do not consider buttons "plain" and don't wear them. However, many times the Amish men are seen wearing button down shirts or vests.

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Quotes

Rachel Lapp: You said we'd be safe in Philadelphia!
John Book: Well I was wrong!

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Crazy Credits

The closing shot of John Book, driving away in his car passing Daniel provides an initial backdrop for the end credits.

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Alternate Versions

In the VHS version, just after John Book is shot, we see a close-up of his gun and a voice-over from an earlier conversation Book had with the captain. We hear the words: "Who else knows about this? "Just you and me." In the DVD version, we see the close-up of the gun and then it segues to Book's sister waking up Rachel and her son Samuel, minus the voice-over.

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Connections

References High Noon (1952)

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Soundtracks

(What a) Wonderful World
(1959)
Written by Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert and Lou Adler
Performed by Greg Chapman
Courtesy of Abkco Music, Inc.

User Reviews

Great story, great filmmaking

'Witness' is about a guy who is a total product of the big city - he's a tough cop, he relies on cars, phones, and guns - who hides at an Amish farm to prevent a boy (the witness) and himself from being found by the killers.

The film is less about Harrison Ford learning to live among the Amish as it is the Amish learning to live with Ford. He is a man who at first glance has no matching ideals. The film is fantastic on that level, especially thanks to Peter Weir's direction, who brilliantly shows Ford gradually becoming accepted by the Amish men.

There is very little dialogue among the characters, and Rachel (McGillis) talks even less, not because she doesn't have anything to say, but because Amish rules of life don't seem to allow her to. They are presented as a quiet people, so McGillis has the difficult task of making Rachel speak without dialogue, and she does it well, which carries over to Ford (he got an Oscar nomination, she didn't).

It's only at the climax of the film, when the action takes over that the film begins to weaken. The filmmakers seem to have some kind of answer to how the killer's storyline should be resolved, but it's not very good.

Despite the flaw, the film is excellent based on the performances of the cast, the editor who had to put all the dialogue-less scenes together (and later, won the Oscar for it), and Weir's masterful handling of the story.