Film of the Day: 49
Witness (1985)
From racing down 1962 in his 1955 Chevy to hunting down replicants in the future, Harrison Ford has established himself as one of Hollywood's greatest stars and he was born today in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois.
He was first found by George Lucas in the 1973 classic American Graffiti as Bob Falfa. After that, Lucas's friend Francis Ford Coppola gave Ford a small part in The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. However his big break came in George Lucas's epic space opera Star Wars as Hans Solo.
However Harrison was afraid he would never get a decent role in a leading role. But then came the role of a lifetime as he was offered the role of Indiana Jones in 1981. Of course after that came one of his greatest films yet one of the most difficult of his films and a film which he did not care for either, Blade Runner. In fact in 1992 he stated "Blade Runner is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley... It was a f**king nightmare".
But in 1985 came the role that would show the world what a great actor he really was and unfortunatly the only film where he was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor, Witness.
It was his most exceptional performance and one of the best films of the year. It began as a young boy witnesses a murder in a washroom. When John Book (Harrison Ford) is sent in to investigate, he cannot get the boy to talk, nor can he get a good description. Yet one day when Book is on the phone at the station, the boy is staring at a newspaper with a photo of a decorated cop.
Book sees that he is frightened and comes to see what the boy is looking at. When he sees the boy pointing at the cop, he knows exactly what the boy means and gently puts the boys finger down, as he wants no one at the station to know the boy knows this. This is one of the film's best scenes.
Also, the boy happens to be an Amish boy and his mother (Kelly McGillis) is eager to bring him back to their people. However as the story evolves, the boy is in danger and Book must hid the boy and himself to save him. So he must hid with the boy within their people, but Book is not exactly excepted as an Amish man, especially with a gun.
Directer Peter Wier (Dead Poets Society / The Trueman Show / Master & Commander) does an excellent job here with both direction and character as he brings out Harrison's absolute best performance. It also plays as two films, an excellent crime story and a emotional love story between Book and the boy's mom and of course winning over the heart of her people.
Witness Harrison Ford at his true best here.
Click here for the trailer
He was first found by George Lucas in the 1973 classic American Graffiti as Bob Falfa. After that, Lucas's friend Francis Ford Coppola gave Ford a small part in The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. However his big break came in George Lucas's epic space opera Star Wars as Hans Solo.
However Harrison was afraid he would never get a decent role in a leading role. But then came the role of a lifetime as he was offered the role of Indiana Jones in 1981. Of course after that came one of his greatest films yet one of the most difficult of his films and a film which he did not care for either, Blade Runner. In fact in 1992 he stated "Blade Runner is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley... It was a f**king nightmare".
But in 1985 came the role that would show the world what a great actor he really was and unfortunatly the only film where he was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor, Witness.
It was his most exceptional performance and one of the best films of the year. It began as a young boy witnesses a murder in a washroom. When John Book (Harrison Ford) is sent in to investigate, he cannot get the boy to talk, nor can he get a good description. Yet one day when Book is on the phone at the station, the boy is staring at a newspaper with a photo of a decorated cop.
Book sees that he is frightened and comes to see what the boy is looking at. When he sees the boy pointing at the cop, he knows exactly what the boy means and gently puts the boys finger down, as he wants no one at the station to know the boy knows this. This is one of the film's best scenes.
Also, the boy happens to be an Amish boy and his mother (Kelly McGillis) is eager to bring him back to their people. However as the story evolves, the boy is in danger and Book must hid the boy and himself to save him. So he must hid with the boy within their people, but Book is not exactly excepted as an Amish man, especially with a gun.Directer Peter Wier (Dead Poets Society / The Trueman Show / Master & Commander) does an excellent job here with both direction and character as he brings out Harrison's absolute best performance. It also plays as two films, an excellent crime story and a emotional love story between Book and the boy's mom and of course winning over the heart of her people.
Witness Harrison Ford at his true best here.
Click here for the trailer
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