![]() ![]() In other words, Weir refuses to portray their society as alien or cryptic, and finds a dramatic bounty of fascinating exchanges and images in showing how, underneath the belief structure, the Amish deal with the same toil and emotions that city folk do on a daily basis. Weir depicts the Amish as a group just as contentious and apprehensive of others as any other faction one might find in America, and that the simplicity of their life is derived from practicing complex, physically taxing skills that allow them to work as a unit. country mouse" design and focuses on how Book assimilates into Amish culture, working as a carpenter and laboring alongside those who believe electricity to be the route to ruin. Wallace and Kelley steer away from the "city mouse vs. ![]() Wallace and William Kelley, Weir avoids the monotonous sentimentalism and idle imagery that these films are often typified by. Now, the idea of a "mature romantic drama" might very well cause you to yawn so hard your bottom jaw locks in place, but working from a script by regular television scribes Earl W. As directed by Weir, the film becomes less about crime and punishment in the 1980s than it is about traditionalism and cultural displacement, themes that have been at the forefront of Weir's art since his debut one-two punch of The Cars That Ate Paris and Picnic at Hanging Rock.ĭespite the pulpy opening salvo, the rest of Witness comes off as a mature romantic drama centered on the growing relationship between Book and Rachel. Plans to stash the kid away in the city change when evidence comes to light that the perpetrators may actually be corrupt police officers, which causes Book to hide away with Samuel and his mother, Rachel ( Kelly McGillis), at their home on an Amish farm in Strasburg, PA. When a young Amish boy, Samuel ( Lukas Haas), witnesses a brutal murder in the men's bathroom of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, he becomes a target for the men who carried out the murder and, subsequently, the ward of the murder's chief investigator, John Book ( Harrison Ford). But the corrupt cops Book has exposed are determined to keep their dirty work a secret, and they come looking for Book & Samuel to silence them for good.This is not the case with Peter Weir's Witness, the Australian master's Oscar-winning crime drama, though the film's premise opens similar to the aforementioned breed of films. Book determines that the best way to avoid detection is to blend in with the Amish community, which he does, working with them on their farms and helping with building a new barn. Shortly after Book tells his boss this information, McFee comes after Book and wounds him in a shootout. Book soon discovers that McFee was involved in the theft of something called P2P, an ingredient used in the making of methamphetamine. ![]() It isn't long before the young boy fingers Philadelphia narcotics officer McFee as the murderer. John Book who informs them that the murdered man was a police officer. The detective assigned to the homicide case is Det. While in a washroom at the train station, Samuel sees two men savagely murder a third. Young Amish widow Rachel Lapp is taking her young son Samuel to Philadelphia for the first time. ![]()
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