Peter Weir’sWitness, a crime-drama and romance film, was given plenty of attention at the 1986 Academy Awards. Receiving eight total nominations across multiple categories, screenwriters Earl W. Wallace, William Kelley, and Pamela Wallace won the film its Best Original Screenplay award. Thom Noble won for Best Film Editing.
Among its nominations wasHarrison Fordfor Best Actor. While Ford acted in George Lucas’American Graffitiand emerged as a blockbuster star with the originalStar Wars, his role inWitnessstrayed from the films he was known for. Furthermore, while Ford’s career has not slowed through to today, he has still received only one Academy Award nomination during his time in the industry. The nomination was for playingWitness’lead character, John Book.
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Ford and the ‘80s
Ford had quite a run in the 1980s, bouncing from one success to the next without losing impact. Starring inBlade Runnerand the originalIndiana Jonestrilogy all in one decade is impressive, especially considering Ford’s tendency toreprise past roles for modern sequels: an undertaking he has done in both franchises. Ford’s performance as Book is similarly notable for the decade. Coming off a long run of sci-fi and adventure flicks, which he had grown to be known for,Witnessis seen by some as Ford’s breakout from the same genres. Considering he had worked within adventure and sci-fi so predominantly before, Book is a significant turn for the actor. Included alongsidethe best of Ford’s filmographyisWitness,and among his most interesting characters is Book.
Witness, in many ways, is a police thriller moonlighting as a romance. Diverse in tone, the film’s romance feels it may have been inspired byromantic contemporariesas easily as Victorian literature.Witnesstakes place across the American state of Pennsylvania, set in both rural Amish communities, and the city of Philadelphia. The film follows Book, a police detective, as he evades corrupt cops and attempts to shield the sole witness to a murder in the city. The witness is Samuel, the young Amish son of Rachel, a widow from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Witnessand Pennsylvania
Witnesstakes place primarily on Amish farmlands in Lancaster. The beginning of the film, some scattered moments following, take place in Philadelphia. While residents of Philadelphia — Pennsylvania’s largest city, by far — may have grown used to streets being blocked off, the filming ofWitnesson location in Lancaster caused some disturbances.
W. L. Zimmerman & Sons Grocery Store, a frequently filmed location representing a general store for the project,received complaints during filmingas the store was known to specialize in serving their Amish patrons. It was reported that a 5,000 Old Order of Amish lived in Lancaster County at the time. Many had complaints about the disruptions. While some residents helped with the film,Witness' arrival was strikingly disrupting since the production, naturally, had trouble offering jobs to Amish locals. This was due to the disagreement in belief systems. Still, some Amish locals helped, such as one man who built a barn frame for the film off-site.
While it was reported that many were interested in the production, withsome youth even cutting images of Harrison Ford out of newspapers, the community was overall pretty blindsided by the crew’s arrival. Some residents feared for an uptick in tourism attraction, which would in turn offset the Amish community’s own work and production. Upon the film’s release, Dick Thornburgh, Pennsylvania’s 41st governor, considered the project tastefully-made. Cast and crew members felt they had done justice for the Amish community in their portrayal, despite the complaints that arose during filming. The wide spectrum of responses from the local community and crew alike helped to illustrate one major theme of the film itself.
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Ford as John Book
As Book, Ford plays a cop well-versed in carpentry — the actor’sreal-life former profession— which makes him an asset in the Amish community. He is able to blend in well, thanks to his willingness to help out. While many within the community accept Book, he gains an enemy in a local man, Daniel Hochleitner, played by Alexander Godunov.
Hochleitner grows impatient after Book shows interest in Rachel, whom Hochleitner has developed a courtship with. Played by Kelly McGillis, Rachel is Book’s romantic interest throughoutWitness, as well as the film’s secondary protagonist. Slowly maturing after their first meeting in Philadelphia, the relationship between Book and Rachel is a heavy component of what makes Book a unique role for Ford. In highlighting the disparity between Amish communities and outside groups,Witnessformulates its central romance in Book and Rachel.
Book’s defiance and determination to win over Rachel is a stark change from some prior Ford roles. Whereas before Ford played Han Solo — known to sometimes disregard his love interest altogether — it can be impactful and refreshing to see the actor play a tender man, reluctant to make his love known. Ford excels in the role as the careful Book, who is deep-down kind and afraid of offending Rachel with his dissimilar lifestyle. Book’s displays of affection are innocent and plain to him, in an attempt to mirror the Amish lifestyle, yet his expressions still go against the communities' beliefs. This leaves Book in a position where he must, at some point, decide if he really belongs with the group. The decision holds a potential reality that haunts him throughout.
