The producers of ``Witness'' provided a turning point in the careers of Harrison Ford and Peter Weir.

Visual beauty influenced by Vermeer's masterpiece

The cinematographer who created the film's poetic beauty, which sets it apart from ordinary detective stories, was John Seale, who Weir brought over from Australia. It was Seale's first Hollywood film. The two had seen Vermeer's paintings at the "17th Century Dutch Painters" exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and, in Seale's words, "unabashedly" incorporated Vermeer's distinctive lighting. In many of the indoor scenes in the Amish village, the soft light coming from the left is clearly influenced by Vermeer.

Filming was progressing smoothly, but Paramount's publicity department was reluctant to use the title "Called Home," which means "death" in Amish, because it was difficult to promote the film, and so it was changed to "Witness." It was a detective-like title, but it succinctly described the story. The Japanese title, "Witness," does not convey the poetic element that this film exudes, but considering how the original title became "Witness," this may have been inevitable.

"Witness" (c) Photofest / Getty Images

Filming wrapped on the third day of the strike, but post-production struggled greatly: Feldman secured a big-name editor, but the first half of the film ended up looking like an episode of a TV cop drama, cutting out the beautiful landscapes and Amish life that John Seale had captured on film.

Weir demanded that he return to Australia and redo the editing. This would mean that the studio and producers would not be able to check the progress of the work, which is what they hate the most. However, Feldman searched for an editor who would stay in Australia for a long time, on the condition that he could bring his wife or girlfriend with him, and he managed to sign a contract with Tom Noble, a veteran of 20 years in the industry. Weir and Noble left for Sydney, and there was no news for the next 10 weeks. For the producer, it must have been a Inferno wait.

When Weir finally got a call, Feldman and Ford flew to Australia with their wives, desperate to see the results before the Paramount executives. Ford was reportedly very nervous before the screening, but the finished product turned out great.

A miraculous movie that made everyone involved step up.