'80s Class: Witness (1985)

 As we're in Oscar Season, let's look at a Film that was underrepresented at the Oscars 40 years ago.

This is Witness, a 1985 Drama from Peter Weir.  The Film stars Harrison Ford, who got his first and only Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Seriously, that's the only time.

The Plot involves a young, Amish boy who is the only witness to the killing of a Cop.  When the crime turns out to be part of a bigger Plot, Ford has to keep the boy in hiding.

The Film was up for 8 Oscars in 1986, losing most of their potential statues to the combo of Out of Africa and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

As the Film with the Best Screenplay and Editing of 1985, does it hold up?

To find out, read on...

An Amish Woman- Rachel- is mourning the loss of her Husband.

She has to adjust to a new life without him.

To help her recovery, she goes with her son Samuel to visit her Sister.

At the Train Station, the kid goes into the bathroom.

While he's there, a man (later revealed to be a Cop) is killed by two men.

The kid is the only witness to this crime and Ford (as John Book) tries to get him to ID the man.

Checking out the people whose pictures they have on file doesn't work.

However, the kid sees a picture of a Lieutenant (Danny Glover) and IDs him.

Ford goes up the chain as high as he can, explaining that it likely has to do with some drugs recovered by Vice under Glover's supervision.

He hopes that he can get the help he need to go after someone in the Department.

The next day, Glover shoots at him in a Car Park, proving that the Boss is in on it too.

He covers his tracks until he can approach the case in a new way.

He drives the two of them back home, but he passes out from a wound he got from Glover.

They take him in- because why wouldn't you?- and he recovers amongst the Community as an outsider.

He also starts to fall for Rachel, getting into a soft conflict with Eli (the Elder) and Daniel, who clearly has a thing for the woman.

He finds out that things back home are not getting better, as his partner died 'in the line of duty.'

He also can't help but really fall for Rachel, coming across her one night and barely resisting his natural urge to go to her.

How did he not get the Oscar again?!?

Things take a turn for Act 3 as Ford- stressed out already- strikes a jerk who was actively trying to provoke the Amish when they came to Town.

He feels bad (sort of) and this gets the attention of the local Cop (working with the bad guy) to help them find Ford.

And yes, that is Viggo Mortensen.

The three bad guys come to Town (in a shot that proves that this should have won Best Cinematography) and Ford is not ready for it.

He manages to take out one guy with a ton of corn in the silo and Glover with a shotgun.

The corrupt Captain is finally guilted when he's surrouned by the community of Witnesses and surrenders.

In the aftermath, Ford knows that he can't stay, passing by Daniel on his way to see Rachel.
The End.

A strong Film that really holds up after 4 Decades- no questions.

A Critic praises a Peter Weir Film- shocking!

This one is not talked about nearly as mcuh as Weir's other Films, be it Dead Poets Society (the one I own on Laserdisc) or The Truman Show.

This was at the time when we started to get the so-called Buddy Cop Films, so it is interesting to see a Film that seems to set this up with Ford's Partner...and 

Focusing equally on Ford trying to fit in and how it is effecting Rachel's Character is a good one.  This is her Story too, after all.

So many tender moments, subtle things and even the lack of a big speech at the end between the two is what you get when you trust Weir on this.

If you haven't seen Witness, do it.  If you have seen it, watch it again.  It's great.

Plus, you get to see a sort-of Star Wars reunion in 1985 as Harrison Ford shares a brief moment with James Earl Jones...'s Father.

He shares more screen time with Vader's Dad than the voice of Vader!

Next up, a return to James Bond.  This time, it is another Classic involving Scaramanga and his golden gun!  Stay tuned...

Aussie Flix: The Cars That Ate Paris

Alas, this is not what it sounds like.  This is a 1971 Comedy/Drama/Horror Film by Peter Weir.  Based on that name (and the Title I put on this), you know that it is Australian.  They are not in Paris, France.  There are not killer cars eating the city.  Alas, this is not a Prequel to The Killer Tomatoes Eat France!  Instead of any of that, it is...a Film about a Town that exploits car accidents for fun and profit?  Is this the Town that thought that Crash- the Cronenberg one- was a Comedy?  The whole thing is very weird, featuring some people you'll recognize from other stuff.  The Director is obviously quite renowned and respected, which means that I haven't done one of his Films in over 3 Years!  Is this a forgotten gem or, as it was when Corman tried to sell it in America, too weird to make sense of?  To find out, read on...

The Film begins with a random couple getting killed for no reason.  No mention of them ever again.

After that, we see two guys driving around and seeing a bunch of signs for Paris.

...and their car rolls over, killing one of them.

Oh and our Hero played Napoleon in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure- you're welcome.

The Town of Paris is full of weirdos that salvage car parts from wrecks and, well, wear them.

The man survives the crash and is taken in by the Town.  Why they don't lobotomize him is kind of hand waved away, because, Plot.

We see a different crash happen and the people pick the thing away for parts.  Freaky folks.

As the Film goes on, there's a conflict between the Mayor and his Enforcers.  They punish one of them for disobeying orders by burning his car!

The Film builds up to a big Party where everyone dresses up in costumes.  Australian Lincoln?

The Enforcers return in their Cars to smash up the city.  They sure aren't overcompensating!

Our Hero is told to use a car to kill one of them and uses his newfound confidence to leave Town.

What a lesson!  The End.

An odd little Film.  It's easy to see why it was hard to market in the U.S.  Is it a Comedy?  Well, it has weird, quirky characters.  Is it a Drama?  Well, it does feature lots of conflict.  Is it a Horror Film?  Well, it does feature loss of death and killers.  Is it a Comedy though?  It has laughs, but also freaky people who aren't funny.  Is it a Drama though?  For every bit of conflict, you have, well, Australian Lincoln and other stuff.  Is a Horror Film though?  For all of the death, it is mostly about morality and doesn't end with the Villain being punished (directly).  The Cars That Ate Paris is a hard Film to define.  It's good, but not great to me.  It has neat ideas, a neat setting and some interesting stuff.  On the other hand, it's a bit slow, a bit random and a bit anti-climactic at the end.  It is so close to being one Genre or the other, but not quite working as either.  It's also not quite a good Genre-Bender, as the divide between the sections is a bit blurry and strange.  On the plus side, the Gyro Captain from Mad Max is here...

Next time, more random stuff I keep collecting.  I'll never run out of stuff, so keep reading!  Stay tuned...

A Criterion Holiday: Picnic at Hanging Rock

At last, a Valentine's Day Film without rape, on-screen murder and/or Necrophilia.  Hurray!  Today's film is Picnic at Hanging Rock, a movie recommended to me by Maynard (of his titular Horror Movie Diary).  For once, he didn't lead me to something horrific.  It's about time, right?  This Film comes to us from Peter Weir, a man who's work I haven't featured before.  That's not to say that I haven't watched one of his works, because I have.  Awhile back, I rented and planned to review The Last Wave.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be too good for me to really get anything out of, so I skipped it.  I wish I had that problem more often.  This Film is also quite good and I was on the fence about it...but why not cover something good on purpose?  It only seems fair.  The Film tells the tale of some girls who go missing on a class outing and the effect it has on a small town.  It is quite visually-striking and dream-like at times.  I can't complain too much, so let's just dive right in...

Hey movie- no SPOILERS.  I kid, I kid.

At a prestigious School, the girls prepare for a trip to Hanging Rock on the Day of St. Valentine.

After awhile, some weird stuff starts to happen.  Everyone's pocket watches stop and four girls go up the Rock...never to return!

It becomes a big issue which gets the attention of the whole area, country and even the World!  This confounds the Police and upsets the natural order of the Elites.

Two young men who saw the missing girls and Teacher before they vanished keep looking long after others have stopped.  One takes it very personally, as you can see.

Lots of personal problems arise at the School as the Head Mistress starts to break down, the French Teacher tries to keep things straight and one Student- absent from the trip- continues to offend the Mistress for no clear reason.

Things get better and worse when one of the girls reappears after more than a week...but has no memory of what happened.  Needless to say, the other Students don't act happy about this!

As thing continue to spiral downhill, the Head Mistress actually kills the girl she's had problems with...

...and commits suicide at Hanging Rock.  The mystery...is unresolved.  The End.

A nice, pretty and bleak Film.  I will say this: this is an absolutely well-made Film.  It is easy to see why it is part of the Criterion Collection.  Armageddon- not so much!  The Film has a unique feel to it, capturing that dream-like quality which is harder to achieve than people think.  Weir absolutely nails it here!  The Acting is quite genuine and natural as well.  The Film is so chock full of nature footage that it actually credits a guy for just shooting that stuff!  You want classy Music?  This actually features a tune by Zamfir!  I can't complain about the quality of the film one bit.  So why don't I love this alot?  Well, it is bleak.  It is quite unique to not give an answer to the mystery...but that also means that you get no closure.  I suppose that's the point.  I kind of want to know though.  Is that so wrong?  I don't think so.  The Story is a bit slow-paced, but never really boring.  The darker and darker turns that it takes make it one of those Films that I respect more than I like.  Is it weird that I find things to like about trashy Films and reasons not to like good Films?  I guess.  That's just how I'm wired, I guess.  I can't take anything away from this Film- I just don't love it.  It is absolutely well-made, well-acted and pretty to look at though.  In contrast, here's an obviously fake mustache...

Next up, I cover a Rifftrax movie so goofy that I can't help but cover it.  What has Aliens, Rednecks and a Whip Master?  Stay tuned...