Witness

Witness is the beginning of Weir’s period of excellent to amazing films. A crime thriller mixed with romance, the setting in an Amish religious community, excellent music and one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen (building the barn). Great. (08/15/2011)

I haven’t enjoyed a good 1980s old-school movie with a good premise and a great righteous policeman as the main character in a while. Already the premise is really interesting. It offers a look inside the world of Amish society and that is not a place you can see every day. And as an addition, the movie offers Harrison Ford who doesn’t even resist much and lets himself voluntarily be dragged into trouble because of the doe-eyed boy whom the corrupt cops would kill without a second thought. It was a pleasure to watch, and the fact that it only pretended to be a detective movie all the while just comparing the world of an Amish person with that of an ordinary one wasn’t a problem at all. (07/03/2020)

The Amish are not well known in Europe because quite logically they are concentrated in the US and Canada. As members of an old order still living today the same way they did in the 18th century and speaking Pennsylvania German, they raise many questions. It’s no coincidence that in the last twenty years, their population has been growing rapidly, mortality rates are falling and families are having up to eight children. Their value system is the opposite of the current consumerism of the US and elsewhere. Which of course inspires many attractive dramas suitable for adaptation in any cultural sphere. Witness is one of the most significant of these. It really isn’t a crime film with added or negative value, as many believe, but above all a story about the intersection of both worlds. Harrison Ford is the ideal "Englishman" who is able to realistically blend action, romance, craft, and existential questions generally applicable to all problems associated with tolerance. (09/12/2010)

Simply a great film, one of those I saw once as a kid and whose amazing atmosphere I will never forget. Excellent Ford, great direction, music, subtle humor, suspense....not the best Weir, but very good for sure. "Lady, you take my picture with that thing and I'm gonna rip your brassiere off... and strangle you with it!"__"Did you hear what that Amish just said to me?" (01/03/2008)