Witness

1985

1h 52m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

1.8K

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4 Videos

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Crime

Drama

Romance

Thriller

While protecting an Amish boy – the sole witness to a brutal murder – and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life comes under threat.

Directors

Peter Weir

Writers

William Kelley(screenplay by)

Earl W. Wallace(screenplay by)

William Kelley(story by)

Stars

Harrison Ford

Kelly McGillis

Josef Sommer

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Top cast

Det. Capt. John Book

Rachel Lapp

Chief Paul Schaeffer

Samuel Lapp

Eli Lapp

Daniel Hochleitner

McFee

Carter

Elaine

Fergie

Stoltzfus

Moses Hochleitner

Bishop Tchantz

Mrs. Yoder

Sheriff

Zenovich

Tourist Lady

Mrs. Schaeffer

Directors

Peter Weir

Writers

William Kelley(screenplay by)

Earl W. Wallace(screenplay by)

William Kelley(story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

When a young Amish boy "Samuel" (Lukas Haas) and his mum "Rachel" (Kelly McGillis) take a trip from their rural, largely agrarian, community into the big city he gets a little more than he bargained for - he witnesses the brutal murder of an undercover cop. The police decide the best way to protect him is to send him home to his family, accompanied by "John Book" (Harrison Ford), whist they await the trial. The perpetrators are on the hunt for him though, and it soon becomes clear that there is someone from within the investigation working with the baddies to track down and eliminate the witness. As an introduction to the lifestyle of this community, Peter Weir offers us quite an insightful assessment of a pacifist, technology free, society trying to live cheek by jowl with the relentless march pf progress and the teasing intolerance of their occasionally provocative neighbours. That they are wholly underprepared for what is coming when the location of the young lad is discovered, is an understatement - and this adds a great deal to the edginess of this thriller, as does the cunning game of cat and mouse amongst the grain silos at the end. There's romance too - as "Book" gradually falls for "Rachel" much to the chagrin of "Daniel" (Alexander Gudunov) which keeps the narrative progressing, albeit slowly, on that front, too. The script doesn't give Ford too much latitude when it comes to charisma - indeed, his characterisation is really rather dull and coupled with the serious paucity of verbiage from McGillis does hold the pace back for quite long chunks of the film. The years have not been especially kind to this - it has become more of a curio than any sort of gripping crime drama, but is still worth watching - and the 9 year old Hass is really rather impressive.

Geronimo196708 Sep, 2024