by Brendan Foley
Two Cents
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
“4:30. Time for Two Cents.”
What does John Book have that Indiana Jones, Han Solo, and Rick Deckard don’t? John Book got Harrison Ford an Oscar nomination, as Ford’s big city cop goes undercover with a local Amish community to help protect a young boy who witnessed a brutal murder in Peter Weir’s Witness.
Weir’s first American film following an acclaimed career in Australia (a run which included the mesmerizing Picnic at Hanging Rock), Witness was initially passed on by every studio, everyone apparently put off by how ‘rural’ a script it was. Even with Harrison Ford (he of both wars in stars and arks raided) signed on to headline, it still took a herculean effort to get someone to fund the damn thing.
The film boasts a score by Maurice Jarre (the same year he did Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome!) and cinematography by John “I fucking shot Mad Max: Fury Road and therefore am better than every other person alive right now” Seale, who knows a thing or two about WITNESS! (I apologize for nothing).
Witness also features the breakthrough role for Kelly McGillis as a grieving Amish widow that falls for Ford, early performances by a baby faced Viggo Mortensen and a pre-too old for this shit Danny Glover, and also a barn-raising!
Does Witness retain its Oscar-nominated power or does the film today play as old fashioned as an Amish woman’s bonnet? We put it to the team to tell us!
– Brendan
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick: Tsotsi
We’re excited to check out 2005’s Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, the surprising South African gangster drama Tsotsi. It’s just a day in the life when a Johannesberg thug shoots a woman and steals her car, but what he doesn’t expect is the infant in the back seat. What follows is the impact on a man whose whole life is violence, when confronted by innocence. The last year or so has been a Cinapse baby boom with our webmaster and two of our editors finding themselves new Dads, so we’re going to probably pull out our hankies for this one.
– Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
Our Guests
Jaime Burchardt: I consider Peter Weir to be a master filmmaker, and he accomplished that with a filmography that’s shorter than the usual to achieve such status. I remember watching The Truman Show in theaters when I was 14, and just being in awe of its direction. I had to watch more. Witness, thankfully and unfortunately, was one that I always missed. I say thankfully because my first viewing was meant to be saved for the Cents. Even before seeing it, it always bugged me that this film’s rap is having Harrison Ford’s (so far) only Oscar nomination. It felt, to me, that the movie was more than that. This movie proved so by excelling in all of its nooks. It has a confident script, a gorgeous look (hats off to John Seale) and an ending that really brings it home, personally and brilliantly. The crown jewel is the trust and relationship Ford and Weir had in giving us one of the most memorable leading characters the 1980’s had to offer. Yep, it’s best to watch a movie with little to no expectations. Admittedly, I had some high hopes for this, and they turned out to be understatements. Witness is stellar. (@jaimeburchardt)
The Team
Justin: Until about two years ago, I lived in a suburb of Reading, PA for roughly a decade. My home was less than ten minutes from a Walmart with a large covered area for horse and buggy parking. Suffice it to say, I know some Amish folk and have spent a good amount of time watching them ride their buggies and Razor scooters around Berks and Lancaster counties.
I find the Amish fascinating for many reasons, ranging from their demonstrations of love to strangers to the story of the young Amish inmate I had on my caseload as a prison counselor (he was involved in drug running from his family’s farm to Philadelphia — mostly weed).
But… my fascination with the Amish wasn’t enough to keep me interested throughout all of this film. It’s a fine film for what it is, a Harrison Ford vehicle that boasts more thrills and actions than it actually delivers; however, for me it’s kinda just there. I doubt I’d ever intentionally watch it again but I probably wouldn’t turn it off if I walked into a room where it was on.
I hesitate to talk too poorly because I did like it, but it was certainly nothing to get excited about. (@thepaintedman)
Frank:
For me, Witness falls into the category of semi-classic. The film remains well-known enough to retain a shred of the popularity it had when it was first released to save it from obscurity, yet the Peter Weir-directed film hasn’t had shown the same kind of longevity that other instant classics of the day, such as Beverly Hills Cop or Back to the Future, had right out of the gate. It’s a shame that this is so because Witness proves itself to be an absorbing police thriller that remains highly involving and expertly made, even by today’s “seen it all” standards.
Ok, so a couple of the plot turns are fairly easy to spot. However the screenplay and the film’s pacing are top notch, keeping the thriller aspects of the plot moving at a fitting speed while also taking the time to explore the world of the Amish and the main characters of Book and Rachel. Speaking of the characters, I loved watching the two aforementioned individuals, who never would have met under ANY other circumstances, welcome each other into their own private worlds. As different as can be, it was a sheer joy seeing Book and Rachel’s unexpected, yet brief, relationship blossom. The scene in the barn when they’re dancing to Sam Cooke was a joy to watch. The character-driven thriller is a rare beast for sure, with Witness sitting firmly at the top of the pack. (@frankfilmgeek)
Brendan: Weir does something really smart with the beginning of the film: he starts off with the perspective of the Amish people and makes their society the standard. While many directors would have kicked the film off from Det. Book’s perspective and exploited the culture shock comedy of having him have to deal with Amish people in his murder investigation, in Weir’s hands it is Book that is the outsider and the stranger, the modern world that is bizarre and discomforting.
Early shots of the wind rippling through the long grass carry with them the hypnotic power of Weir’s earlier film, Picnic at Hanging Rock (a must-see), so it was a little bit disappointing as the film settles into familiar procedural gear. Ford and McGillis make an interesting couple (and the repression is so thick on screen that McGillis removing her bonnet is a moment of gasp-inducing passion) but the film never clicked into that higher gear that Weir is usually so capable of. The best of his films build emotional heads of steam that leave you bowled over and breathless. Witness is solid, but it doesn’t live up to this master’s best work. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Did you all get a chance to watch along with us? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!