Yesterdays Movies on Tuesday - Witness 1985
Every Tuesday will have a review, like the one you see below, of a past film that I've either never seen or haven't seen in a really long time.
At the suggestion of my mother, I watched Witness starring Harrison Ford even though I thought I might have seen this before, but I actually never did. Witness was released by Paramount Pictures in 1985.
After a young Amish boy witnesses a murder in Philadelphia, he and his mother get caught up in the legal system of American law although they want nothing to do with it because the Amish have different ways. Leading the investigation is Philadelphia police Captain John Book who uncovers, with the help of the young boy Samuel, the murderer who turns out to be a police officer, Lieutenant James McFee. McFee finds out and tries to kill Book in a gunfight - Book is shot and McFee escapes. Book, while injured, takes Samuel and his mother Rachel out of Philadelphia to hide in Lancaster county otherwise known as Amish country.
Back in November, my family and I visited Lancaster to take a small vacation trying to escape New York for a couple of days. A much needed vacation for sure. Without a doubt, Lancaster county is a beautiful area where the Amish keep to themselves. That's actually when my mom suggested to me, "you should see Witness, it takes place here." I actually wish I seen the film before hand because I would have tried to find the house where this movie was filmed, but than again over 20 years later things could have looked a lot different.
Witness was directed by Peter Weir in his first American film. Harrison Ford stars as John Book, with Kelly McGillis as Rachel Lapp and Lukas Haas as her son Samuel Lapp. Also starring is Jan Rubes as Eli Lapp, Danny Glover as McFee, Josef Sommer as Schaeffer, and Alexander Godunov as Daniel. It was also the film debut of Viggo Mortensen who you'll recognize as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Witness was nominated for several Academy Awards which includes Best Picture, Best Actor for Ford, Best Director and won Oscars for Best Original Screen Play and Film Editing.
Likes:
- Back then and even today Harrison Ford is best known for roles like Han Solo, Indiana Jones and Rick Dekkard (at least for SciFi fans). It's really great to see him in some of his early roles especially one were he was nominated for an Oscar. In 1985, Harrison Ford lost to William Hurt for his role in Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Other than this, I've only seen Kelly McGillis in one film, Top Gun. She didn't have a huge career after Witness and Top Gun but she was pretty awesome in this film. She totally convinced me that she was an Amish woman and mother. I was totally taken back by her performance. Than again, it's not like I know how the Amish are really like.
- It's crazy knowing that Lukas Haas is now 32 years old. Normally, I really dislike child actors, for example Superman Returns... horrible. Haas as a young kid trying to play an Amish boy was really great. It's funny - child actors of the 80s were soo much better than the garbage kid actors we see today.
- It's soo original which is such a great thing. It's so sad that today we see remake after remake and they usually turn out to be awful, for example The Day the Earth Stood Still... horrible.
- Before and after Witness, there aren't that many films about the Amish community, so seeing a drama that takes place around them is very interesting.
Dislikes:
- The score is really really really horrible. Really horrible. I hated it with a passion. It sounded so cheap like it belongs on a Hallmark channel film and not a Best Picture nominee.
Witness is a great movie and its Oscar nominations are proof of that. Those of you who want to look back to past pictures, looking for something original, Witness is a great suggestion. It teaches you a lot about a small part of an American culture that lives in this mass of a country all of us know. Witness is solid original story, with great acting combining the old world with the new.
-Phil
You should see this, you might like it.
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This was the first movie I ever walked out of. The pain was just too much. For the record I’ve only walked out on three movies total.
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