Harrison ford witness movie#
Harrison ford witness full#

Guys who could tell the whole story with no lines, guys who spent the first couple of days of filming cutting their parts down so they would have less and less to say. And when I say вЂњmovie starвЂќ I mean people like John Wayne.

Harrison ford witness movie#

Only a movie star can play a scene like that. I feel confident in saying so because I know it when I see it. The scene is the linchpin of the Ebert-Siskel review (which you can see here (it makes me really miss Siskel). In all of the great scenes of the film, and all of the piercingly wonderful moments, it is the scene captured in the screenshot below that is my favorite. It isnвЂ™t until later that we realize what Samuel Lapp has done, in that innocent tour. HeвЂ™s excited to show John Book around and to show him the well and also to show him how much he knows. ThatвЂ™s it.) вЂ¦ but in Witness we are introduced, via Samuel, to вЂњthe way things workвЂќ. A lesser film would have just had John Book figuring out how the silo worked while he was under the gun (which is how so many thrillers operate вЂ“ they ARE their plots. Notice the grace and simplicity of how that information is imparted.

And so the title of the film takes on even more meaning, more depth. It is SAMUEL who, innocently, gave John Book the tools for survival in those crucial end moments. But what becomes clear, beautifully, in subsequent viewings вЂ“ is that it is SAMUEL who showed Book the way. All of this will become crucial in the final scenes, as John Book sneaks around, trying to evade the murderers. (вЂњIt goes вЂ¦ it makes вЂ¦ it goes вЂ¦вЂќ so cute) He shows him the silo and tells him how it works. John Book has recovered (somewhat) from his wound and Samuel Lapp takes him on a tour of the farm. LetвЂ™s look at how delicately things are set up in this film, so much so that you donвЂ™t notice them. Her nudity is the LEAST erotic thing about that scene. You can feel their hearts beating, you can feel the desire heating up the room. His shame-faced looking away, but then he has to look back. But the way they play it is freakinвЂ™ ADULT. That scene could have been exploitive or gratuitous or soft-core Red Shoe Diaries erotica (not that thereвЂ™s anything wrong with that!). The men at work raising the barn (and the music underneath that scene вЂ“ go, Maurice Jarre вЂ“ my post about Jarre here). The car in the dark barn, lantern gleaming from within.

The Amish men appearing at the top of the field when Samuel rings the bell for help. You could write a novel about what goes on between those two characters in that silent sequence.) You know what? LetвЂ™s not say a damn word. They filmed it a couple of times, and then realized: Nope.

Harrison ford witness full#

and you know it, too.вЂќ) and it exists in the silences (the phenomenal last sequence on the porch вЂ¦ which had been originally written to be full of words and declarations, Book stating, вЂI will never love a woman like IвЂ™ve loved you вЂ¦вЂќ and Rachel Lapp moaning, вЂњI love you more than any woman has loved any man вЂ¦вЂќ etc. YouвЂ™re going to be okay.вЂќ Harrison Ford plays all of that in that one, вЂњOoph, youвЂ™re a big guy!вЂќ moment, but the film is full of moments like that! It exists in the language (вЂњHe is going back to his world where he belongs. But it is his way of making Samuel first of all feel comfortable, lightening the mood, but also, subtextually, letting him know: вЂњYou are a big enough boy to handle this situation. There is no way that picking him up taxes John Book in any way. Example: John Book picking up Samuel so that he can see the lineup in the police station вЂ“ and Book saying, вЂњBig guy!вЂќ commenting on his weight. country level, the rivalry between men level, the atmospheric level (wheat waving, dusk, men hanging over the barn being built) вЂ¦ and also the small moment-to-moment level.

It exists in honesty on every level: the crime thriller level, the romance level, the city vs. ItвЂ™s a fractal: every part of it replicating the whole, endless repetition вЂ“ microscopic, telescopic вЂ“ no matter how close or how far you get вЂ“ you are still confronted with the same power and emotional truth.