WITNESS: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Paramount, 1985) Arrow Academy
Director, Peter Weir’s Witness
(1985) was sold as a thriller, perhaps, in part, because Paramount Pictures
could think of no more refined marketing scheme to put the picture over with an
audience. Fair enough, the bookends of the tale revolve around a murder, or
rather, a gangland-styled stabbing as witnessed by impressionable Amish boy,
Samuel (played with affecting insight by 9-yr.-old Lukas Haas). And while the
crime fills Det. John Book’s (Harrison Ford) waking search to unearth a killer,
the more gradual narrative brought into focus becomes the burgeoning romance
between Book and Sam’s mother, Rachel (an utterly ravishing Kelly McGillis). A
year later, McGillis would dazzle with her slinky, sensual and striking air
force instructor, poured into skin-tight jeans and a bomber jacket in Top
Gun (1986). It is a brave actress – and even braver woman – who dares
appear on camera with minimal make-up, and, in full Amish regalia no less,
right down to her hair-concealing bonnet. Yet, McGillis can make even this
sternly turned-out attire seem the epitome of sexual innocence.
Act II of Witness is not so
terribly interested in the whodunit, as in whether John and Rachel will ever
get around to ‘doing it’ right under the noses of the elders in this
rural Pennsylvania community. But first, Book dons Amish garb to guard the Lapp
family from advancing harm. John and Rachel’s unrequited amour is what tenderly
ignites Witness, elevating it from just another crime story, albeit, one
set far and away from the usual inner-city tumult and danger. Until Witness,
the movies were rather circumspect about exploiting the Amish for profit.
Indeed, the Amish reservation against outside influences is well documented
and, for the most part, was respected by Hollywood before Witness. After the success of Witness,
attitudes in Tinsel Town would decidedly change. Witness, although set within the Amish
milieu, casts actors in their stead to reverentially represent the Amish code
of ethics. And, for the most part, the culture gets the respect it is due, with
slight departures for artistic license and a bit of humor.
Witness begins in a
small, self-sufficient Amish settlement in Pennsylvania, devoted to the ways of
their ancestors. No buttons, electricity or automobiles for these folks. With
the premature passing of her husband, Jacob (never seen), young widow, Rachel
and their 8-yr.-old son, Samuel embark upon a journey by train to visit Rachel’s
sister in a neighboring community. Alas, while in the men’s room at 30th
Street Station in Philadelphia, Samuel witnesses the stabbing of Zenovich
(Timothy Carhart) – an undercover cop, and, gets a pretty good look at one of
the killers, James McFee (Danny Glover), who later, also turns out to be a
decorated police officer. A short while later, Rachel and Samuel are subjected
to an interrogation by Det. Sergeant John Book and his partner, Sergeant Elton Carter
(Brent Jennings). But, much to Book’s dismay, the boy fails to pick out a familiar
face, either from a police line-up or mug shots. Eventually, Samuel spies a
newspaper clipping on the wall at the police station and Book makes the
connection between McFee and the murder.
Book digs a little deeper,
unearthing how McFee was involved in the seizure of costly chemicals used to create
black-market amphetamines. As the evidence to this crime has mysteriously
vanished, Book surmises McFee has been dealing drugs and Zenovich,
investigating his criminal activities, was set up to be killed. Book reveals
all he knows to his superior, Chief of Police, Paul Schaeffer (Josef Sommer). Feigning
interest, Schaeffer suggests Book keep the facts confined to themselves for the
time being, presumably to allow for another covert investigation of McFee.
Instead, Book is almost immediately ambushed in the parking garage, arriving
with a gunshot wound to his abdomen at the home of his wife, Elaine (Patti
Lupone) where he has since stashed Rachel and Samuel for safe-keeping. Realizing
they cannot remain in the city, Book drives mother and son back to their farm,
but then collapses from blood loss. Since only he and Schaeffer knew of McFee’s
crime, Book now reasons Schaeffer is as corrupt and guilty of the cover-up. By
telephone, he orders Carter to remove all files he has amassed on Rachel and
her son to keep their whereabouts unknown.
Book is attended by Rachel’s father-in-law,
Eli Lapp (Jan Rubes) and cared for by Rachel in a dimly lit upstairs bedroom on
their farm. Gradually, Rachel nurses Book back to health. Rachel is ‘sort of’ betrothed
to Daniel Hochleitner (Alexander Godunov). But the attraction she now feels for
Book goes deeper than mere gratitude. Eli is not blind. He allows this
infatuation to fester… to a point, especially since Book must now assume the disposition
of a distant relative and integrate within the community to protect Samuel and
Rachel from harm. Meanwhile, Schaeffer’s determination to find the Lapps hits
repeated snags as the Amish have no outside means of communication. Hence, his
search will be conducted on a community-by-community basis. On the farm, Book
proves his mettle as a carpenter in the barn-raising for a nearby neighbor,
garnering Daniel’s respect along the way. Still, Daniel views Book as his
competition for Rachel’s affections. And Book compounds this heightened
curiosity when he stumbled upon Rachel taking a sponge bath in the upstairs
bedroom.
Sometime later, Book goes into town
with Eli and Daniel to use a payphone, only to discover Carter has been
murdered. While there, a motley brood of local teenagers (Michael Levering, Cara
Giallanza, and, Anthony Dean Rubes) taunt Daniel, Eli and Book. Forewarned by
Eli to tolerate their insolence, Book instead orders one of the teens to
rectify their behavior, then illustrates the repercussions of refusing to do
so, by severely bloodying his nose. As Book’s
stance breaks completely with the non-violent Amish tradition, this altercation
gets reported to the local authorities, tipping off Schaeffer to the family’s whereabouts.
Schaeffer, McFee, and another corrupt cop, Ferguson (Angus MacInnes) descend
on the Lapp farm, taking Rachel and Eli hostage. Book tricks Ferguson into a
corn silo where he is suffocated, using Ferguson's shotgun to kill McFee.
Schaeffer holds Rachel and Eli at gunpoint. However, Eli signals to Samuel to
ring the farm's bell, bringing the entire community down from the hills to bear
witness to their kidnapping. Now, Book confronts Schaeffer, who briefly
threatens to murder Rachel until he realizes the crime would be witnessed by
too many to effectively conceal it. Schaeffer surrenders and Book arrests him.
A short while later, Rachel takes notice through the curtains; Book now appears
quite different to her. Was their mutual attraction also an illusion? Rachel
decides it is best to leave well enough alone. She draws the drapes, allowing
Book to return to ‘his people’ as she must do for the renewed preservation, safety
and welfare of her own.
Witness has held up
remarkably well with the passage of time. The film’s producer, Edward S.
Feldman, initially had a deal with 2oth Century-Fox. This, alas, would fall
apart when the studio discovered the screenplay ran a staggering 182 pages – making
it an approximately 3-hrs. epic. The aegis was firmly anchored to a ‘never aired’
teleplay previously written by Kelley and Wallace for TV’s Gunsmoke. Director,
Peter Weir leads with a genuine feel for this pastoral landscape and an even
more sincere regard for those who choose to call it home. Perhaps even more
fascinated is the love story, as carefully crafted and counterbalanced by
screenwriters, Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley. Weir’s focus here is on a junction where
contrasting cultures briefly collide, but are ultimately reconciled, allowing
an air of humanity towards and humility for the Amish way of life. Feldman
admired this concept, but thought the intricacies devoted exclusively to Amish
life watered down the thriller aspects. So, he offered the writers $25,000 for
a one-year re-write, plus another $225,000 if the film actually was made.
Fox, however, balked. But Feldman
then sent the screenplay to Harrison Ford’s agent, Phil Gersh who saw it as a
means for his client to branch out and really exercise his acting chops. For
Harrison Ford, Witness marked his foray into what he regarded as ‘real
acting’ – not just, swaggering stud/jock material in the Star Wars and Indiana
Jones franchises. Peter Weir was always Feldman’s first choice to direct.
However, as he was presently engaged on The Mosquito Coast, Weir
declined. When backing for ‘Coast’ fell through Weir came back
into the fold, making Witness his American debut. For inspiration on the look of the film, Weir
and his cinematographer, John Seale drew from 17th-century Dutch master,
Johannes Vermeer. In the eleventh hour of shooting Witness, Weir decided
the last 4-pages of dialogue, devoted to Book and Rachel explaining their
feelings to one another, was pointless. Instead, he employed tender glances
between the actors to convey as much. Viewing the rough cut, Paramount execs’
disagreed, encouraging Weir to reshoot his finale. They did, however, allow
Weir to premiere the picture as he intended, believing their viewpoint would be
confirmed by the audience responses. Instead, the audience immediately took to
Weir’s finale, leaving Paramount to keep it intact.
Witness grossed
$4,539,990 in its opening weekend, making it the #2 picture in the land,
outshone only by another Paramount release: Beverly Hills Cop. In its 5th
week, Witness actually surpassed the receipts accrued by ‘Cop’
before slipping back into #2, where it would remain for 19 weeks, and, go on to
gross an impressive $116.1 million worldwide. This made Witness,
Paramount’s surprise sleeper smash of the year. In an age where sallow franchise
film-making continues to dominate our marquees, Witness now appears even
more a touchstone from another bygone era in the biz. Its story has not dated and neither have the
performances. Harrison Ford is the quintessence of a devoted, forthright man of
action, while Kelly McGillis reveals a subtle luminosity to radiate sensual
purity and grace unseen then on the screen, and, virtually unknown by American
actresses since her own time. The love story is born, not from clichés, but an
intuitive compassion for the cultural divide, never entirely bridged between
the two worlds as represented by Book and Rachel. Weir’s emphasis on the perpetually
thwarted romance creates a unique tension that supplements with taut intimacy until
the remnants of the thriller return to cap off our story. Movies this good do
not come along too often. But when they do, they deserve our immense regard for
the show, as well played as it is more heartily embraced with each passing year.
Witness arrives in 4K
from Arrow Academy and it is about time too. Riddled in edge effects, chroma
bleeding, color smearing and DNR applied so liberally, virtually all fine
detail was obscured in an obscene and waxy haze, the Paramount Blu from 2016
was an atrocity – period. Arrow’s 4K UHD is not merely a blessing, but a
well-deserved homage to Weir’s masterpiece. For here, at last, is a
representation that looks like 35mm film stock; grain-rich, with layered
textures, a subtle palette of colors sustained by that gorgeous and sublime Vermeer
lighting recreated for the screen by cinematographer, John Seale. Witness was never intended to look
like a Mexican fiesta on Olivera Street. So, don’t expect big, bold splashes of
color. What this UHD presentation offers is a thoroughly accurate depiction of a
movie made in 1985 with the added benefits of modern-day video mastering
properly applied to draw out its inherent beauty. This is a stunningly handsome,
if color-sedate transfer with no spec of age-related wear and tear. What a
treat!
We get two audio options; the
original 2.0 DTS theatrical, and a re-imagined 5.1 DTS. Both were available on
the tired, old Paramount Blu. Naturally, the 5.1 has a subtler spatial spread. Arrow
has shelled out for a new audio commentary from historian, Jarret Gahan. It’s
comprehensive, if slightly meandering in spots. But it covers all the bases and
then some, and, is definitely worth a listen. There are also new video essays featuring
Seale and film journalist, Staci Layne Wilson, as well as vintage interviews
with Harrison Ford and Weir. But the best extra is the 5-part documentary: Between
Two Worlds – an hour-long celebration with rare interviews and
behind-the-scenes footage. Arrow has given Witness deluxe packaging,
with a foldout poster reproduction and collected essays in booklet form. Bottom
line: the 4K UHD release of Witness should be on everyone’s Christmas
list. If movies like Witness are a rarity, then 4K UHD releases like
this one are the veritable ‘unicorn’ of current home video standards. Very – very
– highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out
of 5 – 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
5+
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