By Nicholas Stix
It’s over 28 years since I saw Peter Weir’s Witness, and yet it’s still vivid in my memory. It was a great crime thriller, story of corruption, culture clash, religion, and romance. And it was the high point of Harrison Ford’s career, the only time I saw him give a gripping dramatic performance.
To save you time, the most famous theme is “05 Building the Barn.”
Uploaded on Jul 28, 2011
Music video by Maurice Jarre performing Building the Barn
Witness is a 1985 American thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W. Wallace focuses on a detective protecting a young Amish boy who becomes the target of a ruthless killer after he witnesses a brutal murder in Philadelphia's 30th Street train station.
The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for seven BAFTA Awards, winning one for Maurice Jarre's score, and was also nominated for six Golden Globe Awards. William Kelley and Earl W. Wallace won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and the 1986 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay presented by the Mystery Writers of America. The film is also notable as the screen debut of future stars Viggo Mortensen and Lukas Haas. The film's script is a frequent model for budding screenwriters, often used to display clear structure in a script.
R.I.P. Maurice Jarre (13 September 1924 -- 28 March 2009)
01 (Main Title) Journey to Baltimore
02 The Murder
03 Book's Disappearance
04 Futility of an Inside Job/Delirious John
05 Building the Barn
06 Book's Sorrow
07 Rachel and Book (Love Theme) - Beginning of the End
08 - The Amish are Coming
Upload and notes by VantageCigarretes.
2 comments:
I just saw the film on the Encore Suspense Movie Channel. There is an Amish community in rural Tennessee not far from where I live. You see their horse and buggies on the road. This Tennessee Amish community looks like the one in the film.
David In TN
Witness is on the Showtime Movie Channels this month. I think the Harrison Ford character should have gone to the FBI or the Pennsylvania State Police (which he had to anyway) instead of hiding out in the countryside, even with the Amish.
Danny Glover made a great villain.
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