One villain is suffocated in a corn silo and Book kills a second. Book orders Samuel to run to the neighbors' for safety. The next day, three armed corrupt police officers arrive at the Lapp farm. When she is alone she removes her bonnet and goes to Book and they embrace. Knowing that they must leave, Rachel is informed by Eli that they all know that leaving it is the right thing to do, but she is upset at the news. The fight is reported to the local police, and Book realizes that his violence will reveal their location to the corrupt police. Breaking with the Amish tradition of nonviolence, Book retaliates. In town, some Amish men are harassed by locals. He correctly determines that the corrupt police are still actively looking for them. Though attracted to each other, Book realizes that if he and Rachel become involved either he would have to stay or Rachel would have to leave.īook next goes into town with young Eli to use a payphone and is informed that his Detective partner has been killed. Book’s relationship with the Amish community grows as they learn he is skilled at carpentry and soon he is invited to participate in a barn raising for a newly-married couple. Book dresses in Amish clothing and participates in farm life as he can. Book and Rachel develop an affection for each other which is disapproved by Rachel’s father-in-law, Eli. Warned of the ability of corrupt police to trace hospital records, the Lapps somewhat reluctantly nurse Detective Book slowly back to health at their home. Here Detective Book passes out from his injuries. Book and the Amish flee to the Lapp home farm in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While in a parking garage Book and the Amish are attacked, Book is wounded, the attacker escapes, and Book realizes his superior is part of a murder conspiracy. Book confides this to his superior officer who advises him to keep the case secret. With his mother Rachel, a young Amish widow, Samuel meets with Detective John Book about the murder and the detective learns that another detective is likely involved. In a Philadelphia train station Samuel Lapp, an 8-year-old Amish boy, witnesses a violent murder. It was viewed worldwide and was both a commercial and critical success. It won two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing and several other film awards. Witness has been described as one of the high points of 1980s American cinema, and remains one of Australian director Peter Weir’s best films. Witness is a fictional American crime thriller film which features a love story, a thoughtful study in comparative Amish and American cultures, and a respectful exploration of a nonviolent Amish religious community. Most filming was in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The film has been released in VHS, DVD, and in a Collector’s Edition and also dubbed into more than two dozen languages. You won't.Witness, English language, color, 35 mm film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, USA, released 8 February 1985, 112 minutes, aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1, Directed by Peter Weir. The Witness takes a very grim and depressing event and turns it inside out by placing you as close to the action as possible, then gently daring you to not look away. But you're never invited to pity Bill, and you won't. This is largely in credit to Bill Genovese who displays incredible honesty, tolerance, and courage as he uncovers holes, detours, and details in his sister's senseless murder and it's subsequent reporting and media blitz that are shocking and very disturbing. Filmmaker James Solomon holds back nothing while holding his subjects in nothing but the utmost respect. What you thought you knew for certain may not be true, just as what Kitty's brother Bill assumed was fact and based many of his voluntary (and involuntary) life decisions upon for the rest of his life. You know, the woman who screamed for help and was murdered over a 35 minute period while her neighbors did nothing to assist her? Or did they? And that's where The Witness really goes in for the choke. I'm old enough to remember the murder of Kitty Genovese or at least the aftermath. My jaw dropped, my eyes wet, I got very angry - everything you want from a good documentary. The Witness, by contrast, kept me riveted. Yet The Lovers and The Despot put me to sleep. In scale, the two subjects don't match at all: one woman's senseless 50-year-old slaying against a couple of South Korean filmmakers captive to the whims of Kim Jong Il. I saw this new doc at a double play with The Lovers and The Despot and the two films couldn't be more different.
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