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Witness

7/1/2015

13 Comments

 

B+
3.40

  • Death by suffocation in a silo is a pretty awful way to go - Riley  
  • My favorite part about Witness was never having to suspend belief for realism - Bryan
    • Ford isn't able to rely on spectacle here, and instead gives what I thought was a restrained, expressive performance - Jon
Picture
Initial Review by Jon

As I've previously mentioned, I'm missing a lot of key 80's movies from my film vocabulary.  I've been rectifying this over the last several months, but still no John Hughes or the steroid-driven action movies of Stallone and Schwarzenegger.  I tried The Goonies, but it is not for me.  The 80's are still missing an A+ movie.  Witness isn't quite there, but as a film that layers in a great deal on top of its standard cop story, it's a very satisfying reminder that that decade wasn't just bad William Peterson performances and synth soundtracks.   

The first half of the 80's were completely dominated by Harrison Ford.  He made one movie a year from 1980 to 1985, two of which were Star Wars sequels and two more were Indiana Jones movies.  He made Blade Runner in 1982, the least successful of the period, but probably the one with the greatest critical reputation 30 years on.  Witness capped this bonkers run in 1985, and was a critical and commercial hit, netting him an Oscar nomination.  After all those adventure and sci-fi movies, it's easy to see why he might prefer something a little less physically strenuous. 

The movie itself half-works as a metaphor for his career at the time, as he leaves big Hollywood projects for a small film mostly set in Amish country.  After enduring mine-shaft chases and fighting alongside Ewoks, Ford isn't able to rely on spectacle here, and instead gives what I thought was a restrained, expressive performance.  Most of his intentions and emotions and frustrations can't be spoken in the polite company of the Amish, but it's never in doubt what he's thinking.  In the late moment in the silo when he's just about to be seen, there's real panic and fear on his face.  It's a reminder that he's not invulnerable despite his iconic career, and I thought it was one of the more human and empathetic moments in that career. 

Ford's character of John Book is a cross between Jimmy McNulty and his character in Patriot Games.  Book's got McNulty's cocky assurance that everyone around him is an idiot who will eventually be exposed.  In Patriot Games, Ford's Jack Ryan foils a terrorist attack not out of courage so much as a personal need to ensure justice is being carried out.  Both of those impulses are tamped down by the Amish, as he finds himself the disruptive outsider placed in this peaceful community.  The pivotal moment comes when the white trash are harassing the Amish, and Book's insistence on immediate justice, and his righteous superiority in applying it, put his and all the protagonists' lives in danger.  He has a chance to adapt to a more graceful way, rejects it, and is punished, the kind of Old Testament, mythic kind of moral justice that implies the god of the movie is watching.

That more graceful way of the Amish is respectfully treated by director Peter Weir.  There aren't jokes at their expense, and it's a sin to see them treated as foreign spectacles in their own country.  However, the tradeoffs of their lifestyle are included.  The scene with Samuel in the train station stands out, as Weir lingers on his reaction to the statue.  This is likely the first time that kid has seen man-made beauty, something derided and avoided in an Amish community whose only adjective for aesthetics is 'plain.'  Keeping a child from seeing more of the world also feels like a sin.  However, after having witnessed the best that man is capable of, he shortly after witnesses the worst.  Weir is right up in young Lukas Haas's face for both experiences, communicating their lasting impact and asking if the sight of the statue was worth seeing the murder. 

This series of scenes takes on deeper weight following Grandpa Lapp's later talk with Samuel.  His affecting speech is an indictment of nationalism, as membership in the English country would mean engaging in the country's wars.  The moral strength of farmers standing up and telling the US government, "You cannot make us kill" is stirring, moreso for them having won.  The good cannot be defended with murder, or it's simply not good anymore.  Grandpa Lapp would let Danny Glover go, destined to be judged for his actions by one who can see inside his heart.  Theirs is the kind of faith that has the courage of its convictions.  Humans crave justice, and for the Amish to outwardly reject any earthly attempts at it is a highly idealistic stance, one that's conveyed with such conviction, that the viewer wants it to work even while knowing that it's a pipe dream.  That kind of holding back the tide, of fighting an unwinnable fight, makes the Amish deeply sympathetic in the film, and frankly, in real life as well.

Amidst the crooked cops and the fish-out-of-water story, Witness could just as easily be about a woman grappling with the loss of her husband.  In the midst of the first act fireworks, it'd be easy to forget that the movie slowly and deliberately starts with a funeral.  Kelly McGillis never breaks down or even talks about her husband, but in the looks she gives Book, I think she's less falling for him than replacing what's gone.  There's very little sense of time passing in the film, such that it might take place over two weeks.  So on day 1, Rachel buried her husband, and on day 5 or 6, a man is walking around her home in his her husband's clothes, doing his chores, playing with his son.  Without that added wrinkle, I would think much less of the love story between Rachel and Book but through that lens, it's much more interesting, and it gives McGillis more to play than just "That guy's cute."  That she turns her back on Book at the end is a signal that she's finished with this grieving process, a tame rumspringa that has run its course, and she's now ready to move on with the man she was always going to remarry, the German guy from Die Hard.

Witness hit me much harder than I thought it would.  With Peter Weir, I expected it to look great, and it did.  That near-wordless intro communicates their communitarianism and their isolation in a beautiful series of shots.  It didn't surprise me on a plot level, but the sense of place and the generosity with which it was depicted turned those predictable beats into palatable ones.  Ford reveals himself as more than a big-budget movie star and does some real acting, McGillis is much more than a romantic interest, and the supporting cast, particularly Lukas Haas and Jan Rubes, are memorable and valuable.  Even the title is multi-faceted in a way that could've warranted another couple paragraphs.  I do have a niggling suspicion that there's some noble savagery here.  I'm always on the lookout for that intolerable trope, but I think the film somehow avoids this, even though all the hallmarks are there.  I'm still unsure why that bell didn't ring, and maybe we can talk it out in comments.  The 80's A+ remains elusive, but Witness is one of the decade's better films at an A-.


13 Comments
Sean
6/29/2015 03:13:58 am

Witness is one of the first movies I remember watching and I haven't seen it since I was a little kid so I'm glad Kissel picked it because I couldn't bring myself to watch it when I saw it hit the Netflix.

My memories of Witness were 1-people really liked it 2-Lukas Haas terrified standing on the toilet 3-barn raising 4-death by silo and 5-otherwise I thought it was dull.

Amazingly, I think 20 years from now those will still be my main takeaways.

Jon's analysis of John Book (John with an H) the detective is pretty spot on. I was especially fond of him basically taking Samuel and Rachel hostage and sticking them with his sister declaring that if they put them in a hotel they'll never see them again. Bonus points for scolding his sister for bringing a man in the house while the kids are home. Best scene in Philly was the diner scene the next day when Rachel reveals John's sister's opinions of him. Rather than be offended he smartly recognizes Rachel's innocence in sharing information that was not to be shared and the truth that these opinions are accurate.

Over in Amish country we get a number of strong performances and good scenes. Grandpa Lapp offers a good deal to the movie through not only his speech to Samuel about the Amish way and the English way but I think he also recognizes Rachel's vulnerability and that she has not completed her grieving process yet and Book's presence will threaten to shame him through her. His line to Book about well enough to work on the car well enough to work on the farm is good stuff. No free-loaders in Amish country. Alexander
Godunov was great in his role as Rachel's suitor Daniel. Per imdb, although he was the "German guy from Die Hard" he was actually from the USSR and trained in ballet and was friends with the one male ballet dancer everyone knows- Baryshnikov. He also played "Amish Dad" in the Elijah Wood movie North. His treatment of Book was worthy of my favorite supporting character- distrusting of the English/better stay away from my special lady friend was great. The best scene for him and the whole movie really was the barn-raising. "I hear you're a crafstman, we could always use a GOOD one" such respectful spite is hard to come by. Then old Han Solo gets to work and somehow isn't slowed one bit by the Amish contruction techniques and Daniel shares his lemonade in a sign that I still hate you but you are a good worker. Time for lunch break the director made sure we all noticed that Rachel served John's drink first at that table and everyone else at the table gave an eyeball to say they noticed too. This was the scene where in a lesser movie they could have a-created confrontation (not the Amish way) or b- set up for Book to stay among the Amish after the danger was over. I'm glad they did neither of those things. I'm also glad a young Viggo Mortenson was the leading background Amish guy, he's just so handsome.


The scene where Book beats the shit out of the white trash locals ensures that he will not end up living happily ever after amongst the Amish. I'd say part of it was simply rage that these assholes are treating these good people this way but part is he is recognizing that he doesn't belong here and it's time he does something about it.

The climactic scene with Ford and the 3 baddies was a quality finish, death by suffocation in a silo is a pretty awful way to go. Good thinking by grandpa to ring the bell and bring the community running thus saving the day, he can't kill that many people with a shotgun and certainly can't get away with it.

A number of great scenes, no bad scenes unless you count Ford's singing but that was a good scene anyway. Despite the dull memory that's more related to Amish life, the tension and interaction between characters filled the dull gaps I'm comfortable with an A.

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Sean
6/29/2015 03:20:04 am

On a personal note, Mindy had once of her clinicals in Lancaster, PA. She hated it. Still the Amish capital of the world but she hated it because of her instructor not the Amish.
Also, our cabinetry is being built by the Amish. In doing business with the English they have a phone and an answering machine at the workshop but they don't return calls. Hard to get them to answer the phone too. When we did get to meet them a nice man named Marty helped us out and he drove his buggy to the shop and brought a pair of kids who entertained themselves while we talked cabinets by watching 3 Stooges VHS on an old black and white. They thought that shit was hilarious. They even emailed us our estimate, when we replied asking for upgrades seeing the affordable price they sent back a revised estimate. So they use a bit of tech these days when dealing with the English in business.

We also tried to get an estimate from a cabinet place in town. Those jerks never bothered to send us an estimate because he made it pretty clear he wasn't going to be in the same ballpark for quality/price, he could do cheaper and shitty or just as nice but way more expensive because as he put it- I don't have 12 year olds working for me. Jerk!

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Drew
7/3/2015 03:03:34 pm

"The 80's A+ remains elusive, but Witness is one of the decade's better films at an A-."

I take issue with this claim.

First of all, Witness is not an A- film. Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Temple of Doom are all better Ford films than Witness. By sheer logic, those three films should either be an A or A+.

You mentioned The Goonies and that is just a cult classic. I saw it five times and that was good enough for me. Had you viewed the Breakfast Club, however, your opinion of John Hughes and maybe 80s films would be different. That and the Princess Bride could easily be A+ films.

Those are two films you need to view and your statement will be amended.

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Sean
7/3/2015 03:57:06 pm

Temple of Doom is not better than Witness. Probably a whole letter below Raiders. Breakfast Club is a time and place movie. If you made it through your teenage years without seeing it don't bother unless you're a nostalgic person

Jon
7/3/2015 04:38:39 pm

The Goonies is a movie that runs on nostalgia. Having no prior relationship to it, I tried watching it last year and turned it off 45 minutes in. It's not a cult classic; it's a movie adults watched when they were kids.

I have seen neither the Breakfast Club or Princess Bride, so I can't speak to those.

Empire and Raiders are the equals to Witness. Temple of Doom has one of the all-time worst female characters and is pretty racist to boot.

Drew
7/3/2015 04:49:50 pm

I must also add Amadeus to that list of A+. I now understand how great it was.

Jon
7/3/2015 04:57:27 pm

Amadeus is in my all-time top 50, but it dragged in enough places to keep it from the A+.

Bryan
6/29/2015 11:11:39 am

I had never heard of “Witness” until it’s nomination. My biggest beef with this movie is whoever mixed it did a terrible job of normalizing voice, music, and sound effect volume. It was distracting
and required constant monitoring. I took in a few scenes with subtitles and they weren’t close. I’m not sure if that’s a movie thing or Netflix thing, but it was irritating none the less.

My favorite part about Witness was never having to suspend belief for realism. The car wreck scene was a bit hokey in terms of perfect timing, but otherwise the progression was well done. The tension between book and Rachel was incredibly well done. All the action scenes contained enough nervousness to keep my itching for me.

The bad cop drowning in the corn silo might be one my favorite death scenes.

Harrison Ford did an incredible job with Book. He never had a religious conversion and stuck to his cop-like mentality. The viewer could also tell that Rachel, played by Kelly McGillis, wasn’t like the rest of the Amish from the beginning. I appreciate not being shown some hokey fall off the wagon story.

There was one major flaw in this movie outside of the sound mixing - the passage of time. Rachel seemed to get over her husband rather quickly, I think. And Book seemed to get over his gunshot wound rather quickly, I think. I was never sure how long it was between most scenes. The director probably didn’t want a two hour movie, but a little more could have been added with Book’s partner dying.

I could recommend this to anyone - good show. A-

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Bryan
7/1/2015 02:15:17 am

Jon, how sure are you of your day count?

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Jon
7/3/2015 09:08:41 am

It's unclear how much time goes by between the funeral and leaving for Philly. I don't think there's a reason to think it's much longer than a couple days. Upon arriving, they spend the night at Book's sister's and leave the next day, on which Book is shot. So they're back in Amish country with a gutshot Book on maybe day 5. Book is unconscious for two days. Once he's up, it's probably between one and two weeks before the dirty cops show up.

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Drew
7/3/2015 02:52:36 pm

We watched a different film.

Witness had a great premise. Corrupt cops makes for a great story for both the silver screen and video games but Witness strayed into a different story with a predictable ending.

John Book's time with the Amish should have been an insignificant part of the story but it turned out to be the film's dominant section. Viewers saw him build a barn, milk a cow, and restructure the birdhouse and the question remained: "What does this have to to do with the plot?" Yes, Book had to blend in with the crowd but it could have been shortened thirty minutes.

The ending when they found him was so obvious that I rolled my eyes when they appeared. I sighed when somehow triumphed over the three "bad guys." The only thing that was shocking was the anti-climatic death of McFee. Even then, it was not well played. It was too similar to a multi-player Halo match in that Book was simply quicker to the trigger than McFee.

With a 91% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and the praise you two gave it, I expected so much more than what was received. This is a Harrison Ford film that gets lost in the shuffle between Star Wars and Indiana Jones and it should stay there.

Grade: C

Reply
Shane
7/8/2015 08:43:31 am

Tough cop joins Amish
Grieving wife and clashing worlds
Guy dies by silo

A-

Reply
Cooker
6/28/2016 03:42:44 pm

I know this movie was on last year's list, but I finally got around to it before it went off streaming.

I was really distracted by the music. I know it was the 80s and synth was in, but for a movie about the Amish, it REALLY seemed out of place.

The bulk of the movie of Han Solo experiencing Amish life went on for too long. Great start with the scene in the train station of Lukas Haas witnessing the murder, but then it dragged a bit only to lead up to a mediocre conclusion. A lot of people commented on the "death by silo." This death method affected me in that a brother-in-law I never had was killed in a similar farm accident at the age of 13.

I knew about this movie, hell, I almost even picked it, but someone beat me to it. I honestly just didn't really care for it. Meh plus, I suppose. B-

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