Witness Essay
FIRST 10 MINS OF WITNESS ESSAY
Peter Weir’s film, “Witness” reveals that besides our contemporary world, there are other “worlds” with their own values that are unique. These worlds conflict with the Western world through their variation in lifestyle. The Amish are a community of people who live peacefully in the midst of a robust, crime - riddled contemporary world. Weir presents a film that fits two genres, one of a crime and the other of romance. Within the first ten minutes of the film these two worlds it captures the differences of these two worlds through the use of cinematic techniques. The Amish world is introduced at the very start of the film where the opening visual fades in, to reveal a long shot showing the landscape. There is no use of artificial lighting but merely the natural sunlight of an early morning. This proposes an idea that the Amish community lives in a plain, simplistic, traditional, and a calm lifestyle. The establishing montage of the silent and peaceful world of the Amish becomes apparent through a wide angle shot that pans across the screen in a panoramic view of gently swaying wheat fields from which emerges a small band of black clad people walk silently following one another. Even in this very early part of the movie, the audience has a glimpse of order and conformity. Their black clothes juxtapose the brilliance of the Wheatfield’s clearly portraying their different world.
Pennsylvania 1984 is surprising to the viewer, because they might expect a much earlier date. The idea of two worlds is also symbolized by the division of the scene into top half of the sky and the bottom half of the grass. The crossing of the two worlds is portrayed by the Amish moving through the frame from right to left through the grass. This is an unusual technique because usually most movement is from left to right, thus reinforcing their unusual world.
Weir’s purpose in presenting such an orderly scene ironically is to exemplify the dystopia of
Peter Weir’s film, “Witness” reveals that besides our contemporary world, there are other “worlds” with their own values that are unique. These worlds conflict with the Western world through their variation in lifestyle. The Amish are a community of people who live peacefully in the midst of a robust, crime - riddled contemporary world. Weir presents a film that fits two genres, one of a crime and the other of romance. Within the first ten minutes of the film these two worlds it captures the differences of these two worlds through the use of cinematic techniques. The Amish world is introduced at the very start of the film where the opening visual fades in, to reveal a long shot showing the landscape. There is no use of artificial lighting but merely the natural sunlight of an early morning. This proposes an idea that the Amish community lives in a plain, simplistic, traditional, and a calm lifestyle. The establishing montage of the silent and peaceful world of the Amish becomes apparent through a wide angle shot that pans across the screen in a panoramic view of gently swaying wheat fields from which emerges a small band of black clad people walk silently following one another. Even in this very early part of the movie, the audience has a glimpse of order and conformity. Their black clothes juxtapose the brilliance of the Wheatfield’s clearly portraying their different world.
Pennsylvania 1984 is surprising to the viewer, because they might expect a much earlier date. The idea of two worlds is also symbolized by the division of the scene into top half of the sky and the bottom half of the grass. The crossing of the two worlds is portrayed by the Amish moving through the frame from right to left through the grass. This is an unusual technique because usually most movement is from left to right, thus reinforcing their unusual world.
Weir’s purpose in presenting such an orderly scene ironically is to exemplify the dystopia of