Witness

A detailed Summary of Witness

In the 1985 film witness director peter weir explores the sharp cultural conflicts

between the old Amish society of western Pennsylvania and the modern American world

of crime and violence. The main character, Philadelphia police detective John Book

(played by Harrison Ford), is forced into hiding by a group of corrupt fellow officers

looking for a little Amish boy (played by Lukas Haas). The boy witnesses a brutal killing

and identifies the policeman who did it from a photograph on the wall at headquarters.

John Book and his witness hide in the house of the boys's mother Rachel (played by

Kelly McGillis) on a farm in the Amish country. The detective and the Amish widow

gradually enter into a frustrated love affair, over objections of her father and neighboring

youth (Alexander Godunuv) who sees Rachel as a potential wife.

The Characters of witness are strong drawn images of people from two different

worlds. Book is very blunt and aggressive, but he is honest and decent enough to earn the

respect of the Amish people. Rachel is very simple and sweet, But also very intelligent

and independent enough to fight for her freedom to love an outsider. Her son Samuel is

following the clues which reveal a pattern of corruption and murder within his own

being informed on every account and not missing a thing. Witness combines all these

cops come to the farm to kill Book and the boy and eliminate the only witness to their

of Amish farmers surrounds the last armed killer that the battle ends in surrender.

something like a scarecrow and amusing even put back on the grey suit and tie of the

Many other symbols of the interaction between old and new, such as peaceful and

one of the pacifists would fight back. In the end, it is Amish culture which triumphs.

Approximate Word count = 1383
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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