Harrison Ford is John Book - a big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence: a small boy who's seen too much...
I really love this film. It is so clever, using our identification with the honest but cynical and violent Detective Book (Harrison Ford) to draw us into an alternative culture, existing alongside ours in virtual islands. As Book gets to know and falls in love with Rachel (Kelly McGillis), we ourselves learn about and fall in love with the old-world values of Amish life, with its insistence on pacificism and strength of community (who can not weep a little for our alienated modern life-style during the barn-raising scene?).
The direction (Peter Weir) is outstanding, with numerous bravura sequences of fluid apparently-meandering camera-work and no / almost no dialogue, notably the early sequence with Samuel at the train station, the sequence with Samuel in the police station, and the explosive final reel in the barn. Also of note is Weir's technique for creating chemistry between the two leads, in the remarkable "ballet of alternating looks" that creates tension.
The performances are amazing, with McGillis showing a range from demure to openly sizzlingly wantonly lustful, and Ford turning in a career best, e.g. in one or two scenes doing more with the back of his head and shoulders than many actors can do with the front of their faces, to say nothing of brilliant turns from Haas, Rubes and Godunov. Roger Ebert said: "Harrison Ford has never given a better performance in a movie."
Put all that together with thrilling action sequences and a story with real heart, and you have one of the best films of the 1980s.
- Rating: Exceptional
- When seen: Unrecorded
- Where seen: Home
- More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia
Amendments: Added writer tags: "Earl W Wallace, William Kelley, Pamela Wallace"; actor tags: "Kelly McGillis, Jan Rubes, Danny Glover, Lukas Haas, Viggo Mortensen". Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.
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