![]() He pollutes the river, and takes more and more extreme measures to try to bring his vision to life. Things do not go well for anyone, and what begins as an anti-capitalist Swiss Family Robinson dream quickly sours into a Augirre, Wrath of God nightmare dystopia as Allie becomes increasingly obsessive over his goals and distant from his family. There he purchases a town, builds an ice machine that would impress even Gilligan’s Island’sThe Professor, and attempts to turn his town into a utopia. Here, he plays inventor Allie Fox, a man so disillusioned with the consumerist parts of the American Dream that he relocates his family to Central America. In The Mosquito Coast, however, Peter Weir deploys Ford’s natural charisma in a much more ironic way. Harrison Ford is an everyman who becomes changed by his experience with the Amish in a way that feels genuine and minimally exploitative. Witness remains Harrison Ford’s only Oscar nomination for acting, and looking back it is easy to see why this performance broke through (the fact that he didn’t get an ‘elder statesman’ nomination for either The Force Awakens or Blade Runner 2049 is wild when you think about Ingrid Bergman in Murder On the Orient Express). This body-forward filmmaking extends to the end of the film, when Weir declined to shoot a scene where John and Rachel talk about their feelings, not aiming for ambiguity but for a more impactful conclusion without direct dialogue. ![]() For John Book, this changes his outlook, leaving him calmer and more humble, but not at the cost of his passion or desire for justice. The emphasis on bodies and faces helps place the audience firmly in the world of the Amish, where communication and labor are slower and more manual. Emphasis on facial expressions and body language say more than dialogue, and the differences in culture and morals are eclipsed by physical desire and intimate connection. Not an “erotic thriller,” but Weir depicts much of the romance through the visual language. ![]() This is, first of all, an electrifying and poignant love story.”īut it’s more than that, too. In the words of Roger Ebert, “it's so much more than a thriller that I wish they hadn't even used the word "murder" in the ads. While Witness is an engaging thriller, a plot-forward description omits much of the movie’s charms. While doing his best to blend in with the Amish, Book demonstrates respect for the community and their traditions, all the while being intensely attracted to the boy’s mother, Rachel (Kelly McGillis). In Witness, Harrison Ford plays Philadelphia Detective John Book who hides out in an Amish community near Lancaster, Pennsylvania to protect a small boy who has witnessed a murder by a corrupt cop. Both movies play on Ford’s “everyman” persona in service of Weir’s fascination with culture clash, previously seen in the director’s work The Last Wave and The Year of Living Dangerously. But I wanted to focus on his collaborations with one of my favorite directors, Peter Weir, in their back-to-back films Witness and The Mosquito Coast. Indiana Jones was one of my earliest cultural imprints, and so Ford’s work has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Coming of age in that time period, where Ford had an incredible run of starring roles in multiple franchises (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan) he was the actor. The intersection between business and art is what makes Hollywood what it is, and from 1980 to 1997, Harrison Ford was one of its crown jewels. Paluka, Philip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, Ford had an incredible run of movies that were both critically acclaimed and financially successful. Working with major auteur directors like Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Alan J. In some ways, Harrison Ford is the Hollywood star of the post-New Hollywood era. Follow along as we count down some of our favorite players from various eras in the magical cosmos of cinema!īy Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring ![]() Summer of Stars is a MovieJawn celebration of actors that have shined on the silver screen.
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