Close Viewing Guide for Peter Weirs film WITNESS STUDENT HANDOUT 2 1 Opening credits ‚ with background showing Amish walking through fields ( 000-1.00) a) In what ways is the opening of the film unusual for a police crime story ? The opening of the film begins with a rural setting of the Amish. It shows that the Amish world is very peaceful and very community orientated. It looks like it should be back in the past and how they are living in modern society but just completely ignoring it. The use
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America is so fascinated about is the Amish. They entered the U.S. between 1730 and 1770; where around 100 Amish families‚ from Switzerland‚ settled in Pennsylvania. The Anabaptists were ferociously persecuted in their home country because of their religion. The effect of this was an encouragement of “simplicity and piety; which the Anabaptist already saw in the Bible” (Nolt 11). Today‚ there are over 250‚000 Amish people living in over 28 states. The “Amish come from Jakob Amman‚ who taught his
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idealised representation of Amish people‚ and their dissimilar values and morals are powerfully shown visually. Linking Sentence from the intro Weir speculates the attitudinal divide of the values and morals of the two worlds. He focuses in the conflict of cultures and social values that they represent. In Book’s world there is only individuality; we see this in Book’s relationship with his sister and his sister’s dysfunctional family‚ on the other hand‚ the Amish are portrayed as tight-knit‚
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creates romance and shows that aspects of the modern world are encroaching on the Amish world. The long intimate stares into each other’s eyes shown through quick cuts before dancing and the use of two shot whilst dancing creates the sexual tension between Book and Rachel. When Book and Rachel dance‚ Rachel is not wearing her traditional bonnet‚ which is symbolic of her desire for Book which is against the rules of the Amish people. Initially‚ the audience accepts the developing romantic relationship
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Rumspringa is a Pennsylvanian Dutch term the Amish use for the German word “raum”‚ which translates to “running around outside the bounds” . Rumspringa is practiced on Christian Amish settlements and is a period of time when some unbaptized Amish teenagers usually around the ages of sixteen to nineteen years old‚ leave their Amish communities temporarily‚ to explore “The real world”.Rumspringa consists of teenagers dressing in “English” style clothing‚ for example jeans and T-shirts ‚ going
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Wisconsin v. Yoder‚ 406 U.S. 205 (1972)‚ is the case in which the United States Supreme Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade‚ as it violated their fundamental right to freedom of religion. Three Amish students from three different families stopped attending New Glarus High School in the New Glarus‚ Wisconsin school district at the end of the eighth grade‚ all due to their religious beliefs. The three families were represented by Jonas
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The Amish event “Rumspringa” is literally translated as “running around”. It is a time when Amish adolescents‚ usually at the age of about 16‚ experience life outside of the Amish community and are allowed luxuries they would not otherwise be able to enjoy. There are something’s about Rumspringa you may not know. It starts with enjoying English lifestyles; experimentations‚ marriage and reversion. In a majority of instances‚ while being able to experience certain luxuries‚ children still have to
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“Happy Valley” scene and the “Barn-Raising” scene. Weir attempts to emphasise the moral of the film which is that the mainstream western society has lost its way as it results to violence and “unclean” values in order to bring peace compared to the Amish‚ who believe there is no such thing as violence used for good and that there is always another way to protect the good. Weir emphasises the moral by demonstrating this distinct idea of the collision of the two cultures and‚ furthermore‚ through the
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with book and Rachel‚ the raising of the barn scene and the ice cream scene. In the opening scene the concept of "individual struggle" is represented in witness. The film begins with an introduction to the Amish. The music is peaceful and harmonious coupled with a montage of a group of Amish people walking through grasslands. A traditional horse and buggy is used to establish their way of life. Rachel represents individual struggle as when her husband dies she becomes a single parents which is hard
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NOTES ON MODULE B‚ WITNESS BY PETER WEIR‚ 1985 Introduction: * Engage in a detailed analysis of a text * Understanding of how the ideas‚ forms and language of a text interact within the text and may affect those responding to it. * Students will need an understanding of film techniques and of the police drama genre. Important aspects to know: * Visual techniquesenhance understanding of characters * Editing techniquescreate suspense‚ establish characters‚ create atmosphere‚ position
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