Review: ‘Witness’ (1985) Offers a Simple, Elegant Take on Love and Community
This 1985 thriller makes for a far more interesting meditation on love and community than you’d expect from a police procedural
Peter Weir’s direction is easily the best quality of Witness, evidenced most strongly in the film’s opening scene, where the Australian director effortlessly captures the Amish people’s way of life. These opening moments are slow and delicate, carefully drawing out the story’s drama rather than spelling it out to us. As a preacher oversees a wake, offering words of solace to his congregation in German, none of his words are translated. In one sense, it allows us to figure out the scene for itself, which is easy enough given how assured the direction is. On the other hand, it keeps the Amish people and their way of life at a slight distance from our perspective as viewers, showing us that we are also outsiders to their story.
The camerawork and shot placements possess a keen sense of intelligence and humanity, including one shot where a stationery horse and cart is in our focus as it is surrounded by moving traffic. Silent and still, this mode of transport couldn’t be further removed from the noisy bustling of cars and trucks around it, creating a separation between the characters…
