Movie Witness Written by Mark Book in 1985 - Essay Example

A Review of the Witness Film The witness is a movie written in 1985 by John Book. The movie is set in the Pennsylvania Amish Community with many characters and begins at the funeral of Rachel Lapp’s husband. The Amish community is a representation of the conservatives that lives in North America. The film revolves around a clash of two cultures of the Amish community and the western culture. This paper will discuss the impacts of cultural clash between the Amish community and the western culture. It will also explore the impacts of a clash between the two cultures on the people involved. In this movie, we find two characters Rael and her son Samuel, boarding a train to take them to Baltimore to visit Rachel’s sister. This part has a reflection of family ties exhibited by the Amish community. It shows how the community values keeping close with other family members irrespective of the distance. This is because despite the many challenges they face and delays of the train, they braved themselves and waited for three hours to ensure that they reach the destination and see their sister. The western culture also values family ties as notes Capsi (72). He notes that mothers liked keeping family members close the same way Rael an Amish woman does. He however notes that close family ties is getting cutoff. Capsi (76) asserts that some Americans express fear that they would soon lose their family members through family cut offs. According to western culture, a brother-brother relationship is emphasized for rivalry, jealousy, competitiveness, and ambivalence. However, this is not the case with the Amish Community. The train is divided into compartments with different rooms for men and women. According to the western culture, this is not the case as both men and women are expected to share an apartment. There is no differentiation between men and women’s apartments. It is in the men’s room that Samuel witnesses the murder of an undercover narcotic. This is followed by the entry of the detectives among them being John Book. Book is seen receiving a phone call which makes Samuel wander about in the room. He wonders because his Amish community is a conservative community and always avoids phone calls (New York Times 72). The movie therefore brings about the change in technology, which has become the mode of communication in the western culture. Inside the room, there is a newspaper article that talks of McFee, one of the narcotics officers. It is in this newspaper that Samuel discovers the killers of the undercover narcotics officer. The movie is a true reflection of what happens in the world today especially in the western nations. Trade in narcotics is a major problem that the American government and other western nations are trying to deal with. Any person suspected to be dealing in narcotic drugs in most cases is given hash judgment and penalties. The movie proceeds, with Brook handing a report of his investigation. From the investigation conducted, Brook reveals that it is indeed McFee who carried out a raid and netted the drugs, and killing the drug peddlers in the process. The report of the finding also reveals that out of the five hundred and fifty gallons of PZP narcotics drugs netted by McFee, the record in the drugs store revealed that some of the drugs were missing. The record at the police station store revealed that about one thousand and fifty five gallons were not reflected in the record. This shows that the killers like McFee took some of the drugs (New York Times 72). This is a true reflection of what is happening in the United State and the world today. In many instances where police officers net drugs, some of the drugs netted do not reach public domain for investigation as corrupt individuals take some to make money and history has shown this. This is due to the fact the narcotic drugs are very expressive and fetches a lot of money. The movie reveals that a pint of narcotics sells at five thousand dollars. After the report of the finding by Brook, this brings him trouble with McFee who ambushed and wounded him at his perking garage in his building apartment. This is after McFee discovered that it was Brook who had been assigned to investigate him. The main intention of McFee was to kill Book to distort the investigation that he had been conducting concerning the narcotics drugs (Weaver-Zercher 66). History has also found this kind of undercover in western nations where the investigation officers of the drugs in most cases become major targets of drug peddlers. In most cases they are killed in order to conceal secretes. At the parking garage, McFee realizes that Schaefer was also part of the investigation team headed by Book and as such knew of the findings of the investigations. They then organized and destroyed all the reports that had been prepared by Book before Schaefer could get a glimpse of it. This is a true reflection of the social culture that is taking place in the in western culture (Kraybill 220). After the ambush, Book makes an attempt to remove Rael and Samuel out of the city. He takes his sisters car and drives them to the farm despite the fact that he has been bleeding from the gun wounds. He passes out because of bleeding. This was occasioned by laxity on the part of Rael and Samuel who were both reluctant to take him to the hospital in fear that the bullet wounds would be reported and Samuel who happened to witness the event would be found by the policemen. History has reflected a phenomenon where a victim of shooting ends up dying at the hand of those who can help them for fear that they can be victimized if found. This is what the Amish community believed in. The western cultures also have the same belief where eyewitnesses in some instances fail to report murder for fear of being called upon to stand as witnesses in the case (Dimare 556). As the movie continues, we realize that Book latter fall into a romantic relationship with Rael. This is what the society is all about, where people who meet out of coincidence may end up developing a romantic relationship as was seen among the Amish community (Kraybill 220). Research has also revealed such incidences among the western culture. The movie also reveals from Book’s phone call that Sergeant Carter is killed while performing his duties the previous day. He suspects that McFee and Schaefer who attempted to kill him were the ones responsible for Sergeant Carter’s murder. This is a true reflection of how victims of drug dealing in most cases try by all mean to bring down all those whom they perceive to be having crucial information that may be used against them under the court of law (Herberski 431). Such kind of trail has been witnessed historically and the movie is just a reflection of the whole scenario since research has shown this. The movie then takes as back to the Amish community with the arrival of Rael, Samuel, and Book. We find the town of Pennsylvania filled with tourists. The Amish community is so curious and harassed tourists who visited the town. This is because the Amish community felt that they were being exploited by the tourists (Kraybill 321). At some instances, they demand money from the tourists whom are required to pay for visiting certain areas. The pacifist Amish as the movie reveal were so remorseful and in most cases never fought back when provoked. However, this time round they had to fight with the backing of Book, who has all along been bitter after learning the death of his fellow work mate sergeant Carter. Book beats up the strongest street toughs and this fight ended up drawing attention of McFee and Schaefer who ended up knowing Books whereabouts. They therefore begin trailing Book to the Amish community. The trail continue in which every morning, a car carrying McFee, Schaefer and another man identified as Fergie would come to the Amish farm in search of Book. One morning, McFee and his henchmen came face to face with Book, and the fighting ensue. Book being a strong and skilled officer ended up killing McFee and Fergie. Schaefer, seen that his colleagues have been brought down and it is only him remaining, he surrenders his arsenal and give up the fight (New York Times 72). The scenario is a reflection that the western culture believes on surrender to an opponent in case one side is not at a position to win a fight. In conclusion, the witness movie has been used to riddle the Amish social culture and portray a clash between that of the Amish community and the western culture. From the movie, it is evident that the work of art can be used to pass information on what is happening around us. The movie is therefore a true reflection of what is happening among the western cultures. This ranges from murder, drug trafficking, corruption, effects of tourism and repacution that face those who stand as witnesses as portrayed by the movie. Work Cited Capsi, Jonathan. Sibling Development: Implications for Mental Health Practitioners. New York: Springer publishing Company llc. 2011 print. Dimare, Philip C. Movies in American History: an Encyclopedia. California: ABC-CLIO Publication. 2011 Print Herberski Raymond. It’s only a Movie!: Films and critics in American Culture. Exington, University press of Kentucky Publication, 2001 Print Kraybill Donald B. The Riddle of Amish Culture. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 2001 Print New York Magazine. Witness-11 Feb 1985. Vol. 18, Weaver-Zercher, David. The Amish in the American imagination. Maryland, USA: JHU Press Publication, 2001 print Witness Movie. Available at: http://www.destgulch.com/movies/witness/ Read More