Having been an actor for ten years previously it’s Star Wars that made Harrison Ford a star more than anyone else in that franchise. By 1983 he had finished the trilogy and had secured his status further with 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Blade Runner (1982) had failed at the box office initially and it wasn’t until 1985’s Witness that he had the chance to prove himself beyond being an action star.
When a young Amish boy inadvertently witnesses a brutal murder while en route to Philadelphia with his recently widowed mother, Rachel (McGillis), Detective John Book (Ford) is assigned to the case. With the perpetrators desperate to silence the sole witness, Book and his two wards are forced to hide out in the heart of the Amish community. As passions between Book and Rachel ignite, the killers close in, culminating in a dramatic, life-and-death clash of cultures that will change the lives of those involved forever.
Originally a three hour script, producer Ed Feldman saw the potential in the original overwritten script. The Amish had never been featured so heavily in a Hollywood film and this clash of cultures was one he was keen to get on screen. With the script rewritten to a manageable two hour draft he pitched it to Harrison Ford who immediately accepted it seeing the detective role as Gary Cooper-esque. Director Peter Weir had been very low down the pecking order to helm the film. In fact the film had been offered to and turned down by so many other directors that he was still living in Australia before he got the script and immediately saw it as far more than just a cop film…. It had all the elements of a western too
Casting then began for the female lead that proved problematic. Despite the developing love story between the detective and the widowed Amish woman the role could not be played in any way sexual and Feldman and director Peter Weir were having no luck and were about to go to Italy to cast which was soon curtailed when they found Kelly McGillis a jobbing actress who had appeared in a TV series and a couple of minor films and was subsidising her career by working in a coffee shop at the time. It was the first in an excellent series of castings for the film. The doe eyed Lukas Haas as her son already had a number of roles under in belt in the two years he had been acting. After which Peter Weir got creative with his casting – the late Alexander Godunov was a defecting Russian ballet dancer who would be cast as McGillis’ Amish fiancé, her father would be played by a Canadian opera singer and a fledgling actor Viggo Mortenson would make his feature film debut as an Amish family member too
It was a smooth shoot and its release saw it quickly become a critical and commercial hit with the film earning eight Oscar nominations including one for Harrison Ford as well as for Best Film, Director, Cinematography, Art Direction and Score but winning for Best Screenplay and Best Editing
It’s easy to see the appeal and enduring popularity of the film. Ford and McGillis ( who looks radiant throughout) were a magical onscreen couple and their love story that is constricted by their wildly differing backgrounds is heart rending in their final scene. The Amish, who had never really featured on screen before, and are respectfully portrayed here, was new to cinema goers who were introduced to a hitherto unknown community. Add to that some decent action scenes most notably a climatic moment in a corn silo that proved dangerous to shoot and you have a film that audiences loved and returned to time after time on home rental and whenever it turned up on TV
Out now on limited Edition 4k UHD the disc has the following bonus features:
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio
• Optional DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by film historian Jarret Gahan
• Video interview with cinematographer John Seale
• Visual essay on the film’s performances by film journalist Staci Layne Wilson
• Vintage 1985 interview in which Harrison Ford discusses Witness with critic Bobbie Wygant
• Between Two Worlds – five-part archival documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Peter Weir, John Seale, producer Edward S. Feldman, and actors Lukas Haas, Patti LuPone and Viggo Mortensen
• A Conversation with Peter Weir – archival interview with the film’s director
• Deleted scene from the network TV version of the film
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
• Limited edition 60-page perfect bound booklet illustrated by Tommy Pocket, featuring writing on the film by Dennis Capicik, Martyn Conterio, John Harrison and Amanda Reyes
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
• Six double-sided collector’s postcards
The five part documentary is very good but what it really misses is up to date interviews with Ford, Weir & McGillis and there’s a little too much archival features and increasingly with many re-releases the new features are with little known critics / commentators that often veer between naval gazing analysis and ‘look how smart I am’ insight. Nevertheless Witness remains an excellent thriller and one of Ford’s (and Weir’s) best films and they would immediately work together again on The Mosquito Coast but to far less acclaim.
related feature : What Harrison Ford really thinks about his two most famous role
related feature : Stop motion genius Phil Tippett talks about Jabba the Hut in the original Star Wars film
Here’s the trailer for Witness….
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