When Worlds Collide: Weir's "Witness"

In the opening moments of Peter Weir’s Witness, we watch a small Amish community in the hills of Pennsylvania prepare for another day. Chores are done by candlelight. They gather for morning prayers. Everything is plain and simple.

“Be careful around those English,” a kindly old man instructs a little boy and his mother headed off to the big city.

They ride off in their horse and buggy. When they reach the highway, a semi-truck zooms past and another one follows. Two worlds collide.

Behind all the police procedural and Hitchcockian suspense of Weir’s murder mystery, a much simpler and older story is at work in this 1985 film. After the boy, Samuel, witnesses a murder at a Philadelphia train station, John Book (Harrison Ford) is called in to investigate. But he soon realizes this murder isn’t like one of a dozen random acts of violence in urban America and must flee after taking a shot to the hidden hills of the Amish.

Witness, at its heart, is a fable. Book is ushered into the care of people living two centuries behind him and things don’t always go smoothly. He breaks into a fight on the street after some hooligans start prodding some of his Amish companions. He tries on some Amish décor to an amusing effect. He dances with Samuel’s mother into the waning hours of the night.

So, conflict arises. But so does cohesion.

Book, a loner with no family and an unwavering dedication to his job, doesn’t have anyone back home. In fact, his closest friend seems to be his partner at the precinct. But while he stays with Samuel and Rachel, Book feels connected for the first time in awhile with the people around him.

He rebuilds a birdhouse he destroyed upon first arriving to the community. He fixes the car that caused the damage. He’s up at four in the morning in the barn with Eli, the kindly old man, milking the cows and he’s soon eating breakfast before the sun even comes up.

Despite all their differences, these people hold something in common: a longing for connection.

As the running time winds down, Weir is forced to return to more traditional Hollywood elements as Book is discovered and it’s a race against the clock to expose the truth before it’s covered up forever. But Witness succeeds most in its quiet moments, thanks to a great collective effort from the cast and its unique setting. As each of our characters returns to their own life, we get a feeling that they’ll never be the same and that’s a testament to work put into each performance. The story of a “duck out of water” couldn’t be better realized than a big city cop on the lam at an Amish farm.

I compared the film to a Hitchcock thriller and it takes on that life in the final 20 minutes. Book must resort to years of training when the bad guys break up his Amish paradise, but the film resolves itself in a way that’s true to its message.

Dozens of Amish come pouring over the hills as Samuel sounds a warning bell. Book and the antagonist bust through the barn doors to a crowd of on-lookers short on firepower but strong in manpower. The antagonist steadies his aim and cocks his weapon, but the power of people leaves him powerless.

He lays down his weapon. The Amish keeps their peace. And all is well.