Saturday, January 23: Mississippi Mud
IN GOD’S COUNTRY
by John M. Floyd
Years ago, while taking an IBM class at Princeton University, I went with a friend one night to see a movie at nearby Quaker Bridge Mall (one of Stephanie Plum’s hangouts, if you’re an Evanovich fan). All we wanted was a little diversion, a few hours’ escape from books and studies. We wound up getting more than we expected.
The feature that night was Witness (1985), and it remains one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched it many times since then, on tape and DVD and late-night TV, and I never seem to tire of it. Last week, after seeing it yet again, I thought awhile about why I never tire of it. And one reason is, as our Prez said a few months ago about another matter, that it has “teachable moments” — at least to those of us who like to write suspense fiction.
Indiana in PA
A quick summary of the film’s storyline: Amish widow Rachel Lapp (Kelly McGillis) and her son Samuel (Lukas Haas) visit Philadelphia, where little Samuel witnesses a brutal murder. He identifies the killer (Danny Glover) to Detective John Book (Harrison Ford), who is then shot by the killer and flees with Rachel and Samuel to the Pennsylvania farm of her father-in-law, Eli Lapp (Jan Ruges). As he recovers from his wounds — and as the murderer and his accomplices draw ever nearer to discovering the witness’s whereabouts — Book is forced to try to adapt to the Amish culture, and falls in love with Rachel and Samuel and their simple life. Eventually, and inevitably, the killers arrive at the farm.
Elements of good fiction
Here are some of the tried-and-true techniques that I noticed in this story:
- Protagonists who are easy to root for: an Amish woman and child unfamiliar with violence, and a hardened detective who risks his life to protect them
- An opening that demonstrates change — in this case the quiet funeral of Rachel’s husband (Samuel’s father)
- A tragic incident, ten minutes into the story, that alters everything
- An early reversal: the villain turns out to be a cop
- An injured hero thrust into an unfamiliar world, and isolated from everyone he knows and trusts
- A memorable setting (the Amish are fascinating, no matter what your beliefs are)
- Moments of welcome humor (Eli, while trying to show Book how to milk a cow: “Have you never had your hand on a teat?” Book: “Not one this big.”)
- A trusted colleague who turns out to be an evil accomplice
- A wonderful love story
- A ticking clock (as the killers try to locate their quarry)
- Antagonists who are logically motivated and easy to hate: they would readily kill a child to remove the threat to themselves
- A partner who’s murdered while trying to protect the hero
- An unexpected but appropriate ending
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen . . .
Besides the other basics, the film’s story provides plenty of conflict — and on many different levels:
- The fatal stabbing of a man in a public restroom
- Arguments between Book and his sister, who shelters Rachel and Samuel before they flee the city
- Rachel’s resentment of Book’s world and his methods (“I just don’t like the idea of my son spending all this time with a man who carries a gun and goes around whacking people.”)
- A gunfight between Book and the killer (McPhee), in a parking garage
- The reluctance of the Amish to accept the injured Book’s presence
- Rachel’s strict beliefs vs. her growing love for an outsider
- Hard feelings (eventually) between Rachel and the Amish community, including Eli
- A fistfight between Book and local bullies in town when they taunt his new friends
- Book vs. his boss (Chief Schaeffer), who’s turned out to be one of the bad guys
- Tension between Book and his Amish rival (Daniel Hochleitner) for Rachel’s affections
- A gun battle between Book and the three killers, at the end
- Rachel’s and Book’s feelings for each other vs. their knowledge that it could never work
- And, underlying everything else: The conflict between modern society and the primitive lifestyle of the Amish
A Ford in a buggy
Making this movie, I found out later, was risky in several ways:
(1) It was Australian director Peter Weir’s first attempt at an American film
(2) It featured several new and/or unlikely actors: Russian ballet dancer Alexander Godunov, Canadian opera singer Jan Ruges, a pre-Top Gun Kelly McGillis, nine-year-old Lukas Haas, and an upstart named Viggo Mortensen
(3) It introduced a serious, break-the-mold image for Harrison Ford — until then, audiences knew him only as a dashing action hero (Han Solo/Indiana Jones)
Last but not least:
Witness, which won two Oscars, also features an outstanding soundtrack by Maurice Jarre, and a signature scene (the raising of a barn) that no viewer will ever forget. Bottom line: In my opinion this is cinema at its best, an excellent film that offers a rare look at the Amish world and — when studied scene-by-scene — can be a lesson to anyone who wants to write meaningful and entertaining fiction.
My decision that night in New Jersey (to go out and catch a movie rather than study) is one that I probably made way too often, over the years. This time it turned out to be a good choice.
Ford was also an experienced carpenter, as I recall, so the barn sequence was probably not “acting” for him.
What I remember best about the film are two scenes you don’t specifically mention:
* the horrific death in the silo
* using witnessing as, effectively, a weapon: Are you going to kill all of us?
Terrific movie.
Johnny, I heard someplace that Ford’s background as a carpenter was one of the reasons the director chose to do the barn-raising scene. In the movie, as everyone is gathering to begin work on the barn, I think I remember one of the Amish saying to Book, “So you are a carpenter?” Book replies with something like “It’s been a while.”
And Rob, I heard that they decided only at the last minute to do the silo death, which worked well. (A grainout rather than a shootout?)
One thing I forgot to mention — this screenplay features something else that’s often effective in stories: it uses, as the last line spoken in the movie, a repeated line of dialogue from earlier: “Be careful, out among them English.”
Recently I saw an interview with Quentin Tarantino in which he talked about wanting to make a film that audiences would go back to again and again just for the pleasure of hanging out with the characters. “Witness” certainly does that for me. My favorite scene: Ford teaching McGillis to dance to Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World.”
I also appreciate what you say, John, about writers learning from film. Other people may be slacking off when they spend a rainy Sunday on the couch watching DVDs, but we’re working.
The strict belief vs growing feelings for Book went a bit further in that they had a full blown relationship in which she found out “the world” was much different than she’d been taught to accept.
Change was inevitable from all aspects from lust to love, to backgrounds, to lifestyle, to (finally) acceptance.
To me that is the very teachable moment. We can grow through acceptance and change.
I speak to my ownself as I have a brand new and lovely Muslim daughter-in-law. jAnd we as two families, one in Texas and one in Istanbul, are learning.
I wondered when I first saw that movie what it would be like to be in that situation of learning and acceptance because we love and to love another in acceptance.
Now I know.
I liked your article. And I loved that movie and I don’t even like Harrison Ford, though I know that is almost unamerican to say such.
I first saw Witness when I was helping out with a class teaching nursing students how to deal with people from other cultures. Another fictional portrayal of Amish culture is Leigh Brackett’s novel The Long Tomorrow.
Thanks for the lessons here, John!
I think it’s interesting that people thrust into an unfamiliar way of life has been the premise of so much fiction. Fairly recent examples are Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai, and even Avatar. As alisa said, acceptance and change are always good things to have in a story, and a conflict between cultures can provide that.
Two of the things I remember most about Witness are (1) the happiness and wonder in Rachel Lapp’s face during that dancing-in-the-barn sequence and (2) the feeling of absolute menace as the three killers walked down the foggy road toward the farm, near the end of the film. Those are images that’ll stay with you.
Hi John,
Witness is a movie I enjoyed and remember fondly. Your examination of all its nooks and crannies explain why.
Terrie
Witness is one of my favorites. Excellent analysis, John.
You’re right about the shot of the killers on the foggy road, too. I remember how my stomach dropped the first time I watched it.
It is an unforgettable film!