"Witness" is a subtle, thoughtful and intelligently directed film which is both a crime thriller and an extraordinary love story. A police investigation into a brutal murder provides this drama with its momentum and drive and a tragic romantic tale adds the intensity, warmth and poignancy that elevates this movie to a higher level than that normally achieved by more routine thrillers. The story about two people from different backgrounds who fall in love, but know that their love can't transcend their circumstances, has a timeless and universal appeal which explains why this movie has retained its popularity so consistently since it was first released in 1985.
When a recently widowed young Amish woman and her son are in a train station in Philadelphia, the 8-year-old boy witnesses the murder of an undercover cop. Detective Captain John Book (Harrison Ford) is put in charge of the investigation and questions Samuel Lapp (Lukas Haas), but even after showing him mug shots and arranging line-ups of suspects, the boy isn't able to finger the culprit. A little while later, however, Samuel is looking around the police office when he notices the killer's picture on a newspaper clipping that's pinned up inside a glass cabinet. When he brings this to Book's attention, it's quite a shock because the man in the photograph is the highly decorated Detective Lieutenant McFee (Danny Glover) of the Narcotics Division.
Detective Book tells his superior officer Detective Chief Schaeffer (Josef Sommer) about this development and Schaeffer asks him to keep the information confidential. Shortly after, when he's shot at and injured by McFee, it becomes obvious to Book that McFee and Schaeffer are both corrupt and Samuel and his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis) are in mortal danger. In order to protect them, Book drives them back to their Amish community but after his arrival there, he collapses and has to remain with the Amish where Rachel gradually nurses him back to health.
During Book's period of recuperation, he and Rachel fall in love but he soon realises that neither of them could survive indefinitely in the other's world. Book adapts well to living with the Amish and earns their respect as he readily helps with milking cows and building a barn, but his presence in their community places them in danger, as becomes all too clear when the story reaches its action-packed conclusion.
Non-verbal communication is used frequently in this movie and provides the action with an extremely natural feel. A couple of the stand-out sequences are those in which Samuel looks at Book in a way that immediately signifies that he's seen something important (when he sees McFee's photograph) and another is when Book and Rachel dance together in a barn to Sam Cooke's "What A Wonderful World". The power to convey their thoughts and feelings so clearly in this way is very touching at times and also testifies strongly to the quality of the acting.
The differences between the worlds that Book and Rachel inhabit couldn't be greater as the Amish reside in rural surroundings and live a quiet, non-violent existence in which it's normal for everyone to help everyone else. These people embrace old fashioned values and don't use modern conveniences such as cars and refrigerators etc. By contrast, Book's existence as a city cop is far less serene and regularly brings him into contact with violence, corruption and various other forms of errant human behaviour.
"Witness", with its interesting characters, its absorbing story of murder, corruption and doomed love and its marvellous acting performances, is tremendously enjoyable to watch and leaves a lasting impression.
When a recently widowed young Amish woman and her son are in a train station in Philadelphia, the 8-year-old boy witnesses the murder of an undercover cop. Detective Captain John Book (Harrison Ford) is put in charge of the investigation and questions Samuel Lapp (Lukas Haas), but even after showing him mug shots and arranging line-ups of suspects, the boy isn't able to finger the culprit. A little while later, however, Samuel is looking around the police office when he notices the killer's picture on a newspaper clipping that's pinned up inside a glass cabinet. When he brings this to Book's attention, it's quite a shock because the man in the photograph is the highly decorated Detective Lieutenant McFee (Danny Glover) of the Narcotics Division.
Detective Book tells his superior officer Detective Chief Schaeffer (Josef Sommer) about this development and Schaeffer asks him to keep the information confidential. Shortly after, when he's shot at and injured by McFee, it becomes obvious to Book that McFee and Schaeffer are both corrupt and Samuel and his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis) are in mortal danger. In order to protect them, Book drives them back to their Amish community but after his arrival there, he collapses and has to remain with the Amish where Rachel gradually nurses him back to health.
During Book's period of recuperation, he and Rachel fall in love but he soon realises that neither of them could survive indefinitely in the other's world. Book adapts well to living with the Amish and earns their respect as he readily helps with milking cows and building a barn, but his presence in their community places them in danger, as becomes all too clear when the story reaches its action-packed conclusion.
Non-verbal communication is used frequently in this movie and provides the action with an extremely natural feel. A couple of the stand-out sequences are those in which Samuel looks at Book in a way that immediately signifies that he's seen something important (when he sees McFee's photograph) and another is when Book and Rachel dance together in a barn to Sam Cooke's "What A Wonderful World". The power to convey their thoughts and feelings so clearly in this way is very touching at times and also testifies strongly to the quality of the acting.
The differences between the worlds that Book and Rachel inhabit couldn't be greater as the Amish reside in rural surroundings and live a quiet, non-violent existence in which it's normal for everyone to help everyone else. These people embrace old fashioned values and don't use modern conveniences such as cars and refrigerators etc. By contrast, Book's existence as a city cop is far less serene and regularly brings him into contact with violence, corruption and various other forms of errant human behaviour.
"Witness", with its interesting characters, its absorbing story of murder, corruption and doomed love and its marvellous acting performances, is tremendously enjoyable to watch and leaves a lasting impression.