40 years ago, ‘Witness’ showed two sides of Pennsylvania

Harrison Ford, in one of his best performances, played a Philly cop undercover in Amish country.

Witness, which arrived in February of 1985 — 40 years ago this week — is often included on lists of the best Philadelphia movies ever made, including the Philadelphia Inquirer survey that I contributed to about a year ago, where it was #17.

Yes, its hero is a tough Philly cop (Harrison Ford), the plot centers on a murder that takes place in 30th Street Station and persistent Philadelphia police corruption, and there are some other recognizable Philly locations.

But the film is mostly set in Amish country, near Lancaster, about 60 miles from the big city. And rather than a fish-out-of-water comedy, Witness is instead both a hard-boiled thriller and a surprisingly sexy romance, between Ford and Kelly McGillis.

Witness was directed by Peter Weir, who is Australian, and he did an especially good job juggling both those two tones, and understanding those two cultures, neither of which is his own.

The film begins with the death and funeral of an Amish community elder, after which his wife Rachel (McGillis) and son Samuel (Lukas Haas) travel to Philadelphia en route to a train further South. Then, while in a 30th Street Station bathroom that I have been in dozens of times, Samuel witnesses the murder of an undercover cop.