Vis-à-vis the holy grail for every Hollywood plodding actor, the Oscar glory, quondam megastar Harrison Ford appears to be an anomaly in terms of ambition, compared with his next-generation male box office draws like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt (all currently thrice-nominated for their acting chops without a win, although their odds seem to recede in recent years due to multiple reasons), he contentedly and consistently prefers receipts-proof studio productions than potential Oscar baits, so it is an interesting case that his as yet sole Oscar nomination is derived from Antipodean director Peter Weir’s first Hollywood foray, WITNESS, which grafts a boilerplate thriller template onto the rarely presented Amish minority dwelling in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and becomes a dark horse hit and unlikely Oscar contender with 8 nominations and two wins, does Ford ride on the coattail of its runaway success or is he really Oscar-worthy?
Before we even lay our eyes on Ford’s Philadelphia detective John Book, Weir masterfully opens the film with a pastoral, solemn Amish funeral to introduce widow Rachel Lapp (McGillis, in her breakthrough role) and her 8-year-old son Samuel (Lukas Haas, for this reviewer’s money, the cutest, most telegenic kid ever to melt your heart), then, right during his maiden trip to a big city, in the Philadelphia train station, Samuel inadvertently witness a murder in the men’s room, profuse blood is splattered in front of his innocent eyes, and he only avoids being caught by a hair’s breadth, what an extraordinary kid he is! Possessing such presence of mind, he should be plugging for Amish upbringing afterwards.
Ergo, here enters John Book, our diligent detective, whose life soon is imperiled by Samuel’s chance discovery of the assassin, which links the rotten core to his direct superior Chief Paul Schaeffer (Sommer, looks out of sorts in his anemic complexion), after surviving an ambush and driving Rachel and Samuel back to their home turf, a wounded John stays to recuperate, and begins to participate in Amish activities, inevitably mutual attraction sizzles between him and Rachel (ignited by a sensual, perspiring humming and dancing to the tunes of WONDERFUL WORLD), there are plenty time before Schaeffer and his lackeys can pinpoint his whereabout (a plot device seems only probable at that time), during which John impressively shows his carpentry skill (an in-joke because Ford was a carpenter before plunging into showbiz) in the annual barn-raising day, whacks a whippersnapper who taunts the pacifist Amish people, and finally unleashes his hitherto suppressed desire with a reciprocal Rachel, Weir is truly au fait with the stoked passion between a man and a woman, who are hampered by their different persuasions and uncertain futurity, and not only projected from a habitual male gaze angle.
A final showdown is respectfully left no Amish being hurt, after Book using ingenuity to dispatch two villains (a maniac Danny Glover included), the danger is defused by a testament to the truism “there is safety in numbers”, which lends the story a surprisingly realistic spin out of its well-worn genre tropes. Ford is as good as one can expect, conjuring up bonhomie, bona-fides and sex appeal with sufficient exigency and commitment, and so is Kelly McGillis, stalwartly sticks with her guns in fidelity to Rachel’s true feelings. A minor gripe is that Lukas Haas’ Samuel has been mostly left on the sideline when romance and cultural adaptation is put to the fore, a lost opportunity to mine into the psyche of a young kid relative to the concept of “innocence lost”, when Haas manifests a rare affecting brilliance onscreen. That said, WITNESS thrives as a consequential conglomerate of enclave infotainment and genre exercise, a shot in Weir’s arm and a boon to Harrison Ford’s awards-eluding acting facility.
referential entries: Weir’s THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (1982, 6.4/10), THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998, 8.3/10), PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975, 8.9/10).
《证人》
开场以为是一部文艺片,绿油油的草原中,一群阿米什儿人缓缓走来,绿草末过了他们的半截身体,然后镜头一直跟着他们移动,接着是他们的礼拜,然后一个空镜,一阵风把草原吹得犹如大海的波浪🌊。经典文艺片入场即视感
但镜头一转一辆阿什米儿人的马车和车流一起奔跑在现代马路上(最喜欢的镜头)然后就开始进入故事正文了
有点像是西方版“桃花源记”,只不过影片中的游客是由桃花源中的阿什米儿母子,主动把男主带入他们的日出而作,日落而息的生活。
影片内容:一名警察被谋杀,刚好被阿什米儿人的小男孩目睹了现场,警方因此找到他们要求小男孩作为证人指证,在最终指证成功后,男主却发现这是一起警察内部腐败案,男主因为触犯了腐败方警察的利益被追杀,出于保护阿什米儿母子的心理,带着她们母子两回到了阿什米儿人部落,并且因为受伤被阿什米儿人救起,在阿什米儿人部落生活了一段日子,和女主(也就是母子中的妈妈)产生了感情,但双方都清楚,各自信仰和所处的社会不同,最终分别。
情节个人感觉衔接很生硬,似乎也没有突出影片要表达的重点内容。
开头是阿什米儿人的平和生活,阿什米儿人完全不接受美国的现代法治生活,他们完全拥有自主的自治权,让人不禁感叹美国文化的包容性。
然后是谋杀案的刺激惊险,然后又是阿什米儿人的平凡快乐生活,最后又回归到警察腐败案的凶险。
看完到最后只想问一句:“阿什米儿人是否仍然可以过他们“日出而作,日落而息”群居而聚,不随流于现代社会?
就还蛮向往这样的生活的!
3.5,(旧)好莱坞警匪结构不过一个框架,处理为黑色电影—乡村影片的二元对抗。导演展现了更多对传统日常生活之流的注意,以至于大部分时间内,时空被架空。它可以是1940s,1840s。但是,它以极端冷硬感处理第三幕结尾及之后情节,彼得威尔在光明处多么马力克,在黑暗处就多么梅尔维尔
影片的切入点很独特呢。不过故事本身并没有太大悬念,有些细节处理似乎不够到位,比如Book搭档原因不明的牺牲,结尾Book曾尊为导师的警长Schaeffer在阿米部落村民们纷纷赶到后,惊恐地放下枪这一段也令人费解。Anyway,小男孩超级可爱啊!
上影日期跟我生日差不多跑。。。\(^o^)/~小正太成了日后的造梦师。。
在艰难的条件下依然保持一颗公正的心不容易;通过交流沟通把偏见化成理解也并不难。女主角很优雅,小男孩很可爱,Ford 一贯地有型。
愣是把犯罪片拍成了爱情片,老哈里表现地比较生硬,整个爱情的萌发也有点不知所云。高潮部分也不够劲爆,总之很一般。
女主是演过《暴劫梨花》和《凌云壮志》的凯莉·麦吉利斯 非常有味道 别样的性感 成熟有风韵 贤淑而又有点男性气质 露点 维果·莫特森年轻客串处女作 小男孩长大《小红帽》《乔布斯》 彼得威尔《死亡诗社》《楚门的世界》《怒海争锋》执导类型多样 此片节奏太慢 类型混杂 开场文艺片 厕所变犯罪片 到乡下隐姓埋名变武侠片 和女主互生情愫变爱情片 谷雨暴击变动作片 摄影还是不错的
即便是放在二十五年后的今天,这也是部很棒的影片。虽然故事是老套的,但细节处理的非常非常好!
由七末星战八初夺宝所赋予的偶像魅力,以及“证人电影”所形成的孤儿寡母期待强警拯救的类型预期,观众很容易认为哈福特必是此片的绝对主宰!可讽妙地是,实际剧情刚好相反:首先,小山姆并不是寻常意义的安全遥望式目击者,他经历了生死瞬间却凭机智全身而退。警长随后被同个凶手击伤!结尾警长让他先跑也没听,而是折返鸣钟引来村民化解危局!换言之,面对同个对手,小孩赢而警长输。再看保护证人部分。阿米什人独特族群性本使锁定藏身地点近乎大海捞针,可最终还是暴露,因为警长联系黑人搭档并当街揍人惊动了警方!而转危为安依然要依靠谷仓地道在地设施甚以阿米什人的族群互助。甚至情感线上警长也在迟疑退缩,即女主擦浴转身主动邀约那一幕!男主确有魅力却过于循规蹈矩,这或许就是因何此角名叫Book?…PS著名的谷淹敌军灵源德莱叶吸血鬼。
男女主角是绝配,女主角气质圣洁
抛开剧情,看过林达老师书的应该对阿米什人有极大的兴趣。看这个可以直观的了解到
老周拉片——片段:开场,小男孩在警察局那段,指出犯人是谁。
最后布克离开了村庄,因为他不属于这里。犯罪题材拍得很文艺,但觉各情节点间有点脱节,张弛失了度,铺垫也不那么充足。过失与坚守,爱情与种族,想表达的太多,头绪理不清楚,只单独段落来看是美的。天使正太长大后成了不合格的造梦师,属又一长残了的案例。
不是一个世界的人 是没办法在一起的
几年前cctv6撸过,新颖独到的切入点,以简朴落后善良的少数部族对比现代文明的虚伪狡诈,正义的警长哈里森·福特只能在这片弹丸之地里躲避所谓文明人士的追杀,文明世界的丛林本质在小男孩纯真无邪又茫然空洞的眼神里展现的淋漓尽致【720p.BluRay】
莫染:““Witness” 简洁、宁静的电影。仿佛薄暮时从心里飘出的歌,或者只是长久的凝视……”唯一的缺憾,那个大眼睛的小男孩现在长得太残了。
4.0 老梗的故事,卻也能從中展現一片淨土。剪輯與攝影真好,頻頻出現令我心動的鏡頭。只不過中間一段都傾力放在情感戲上了,而結尾顯弱。Harrison Ford的木匠身分根本就是本色演出啊....哈哈哈
这是一部并不完美的电影,但是紧迫感和爱情都像水一样徐徐涌来。故事的内核当然是爱情,不过披上了颇为成功的惊悚外衣,各方面的奏效都让剧本与众不同,而最值得称赞的是那个非凡的开头。在为数不多的危急段落中,电影足以让观众惊出一身冷汗,这部电影在那些时刻可以用了不起来形容。
我想知道,现在的阿米什人是不是如同中国大多数少数名族一样,有没有被这个时代同化? 还是他们依旧坚定地保持着自己的信仰。
两种难以融合的文化,爱情也是没有结果的。影片里爱情戏份占了很大的篇幅,使得整部电影偏重于文艺性,节奏稍微拖沓。摄影较为出彩~
这配乐跟《悬崖上的午餐》好像,看来这是彼得·威尔用来表现怪人的专用音乐;维格·蒙坦森处女作,这哥们出名真够晚的