Peter Weirs depiction of the city is in complete contrast with the Amish community, particularly because it is seen through he eyes of an innocent child.
A key scene that shows the violence in the city best is where Samuel witnesses a brutal murder in a toilet in the train station. The tension begins with the music. The music begins when Samuel witnesses the murder through a gap in the cubicle door. It is very tense and the fast beat of the music mirrors the beat of Samuels heart. This emphasises his fear.
During this scene we are introduced to McFee one of the main characters and the murderer. Weir makes this an extremely brutal scene to highlight his view of the city. After the murder has been committed McFee is unexpectedly in no rush to escape. He casually straightens his tie and washes his hands. This symbolises McFee washing his guilt away.
Another key scene is where Samuel is almost caught. Weir uses a number of close ups during this scene to emphasise the fear in Samuels eyes and his loss of innocence. Everything in this scene is done with split second timing to build tension. For example, Samuel locks the door just in time. He then jumps onto the toilet just as McFee looks. He then grabs his hat off the floor just as McFee opens the door. This highlights the tension in this scene
As the tension rises Book is the one displaced, forced to stay in the Amish community to recover from a gunshot wound and to protect Samuel Lapp. We now see the clash through Books eyes. The Amish community is very different from the city. They have to follow strict rules or they could be shunned. Unlike the city, the Amish community is deeply religious and is full of hardworking people. When Book first arrives in the Amish community, the audience immediately realises he is going to disrupt the peace as he crashes into a dovecot. Doves symbolise peace, so by knocking the dovecot over, this highlights the peace being disrupted. Book also brings danger to the community, represented by the gun.
Whilst staying in the Amish community, Book takes a break from Policing and we find out at this point in the film that he is also an expert in carpentry.
Book sees the Amish community as a peaceful, hardworking place. During the barn-raising scene this is highlighted by the use of peaceful music and props.
The way the setting is used at the end is crucial in helping to resolve the film and in helping us to understand the films themes.
The setting changes dramatically at the beginning of the shootout from a peaceful place to a dangerous one. The gun symbolises the danger. He change is highlighted when the car slowly comes up the hill. The music at this point in the film is extremely tense.
As the three corrupt Cops walk down he hill into Lapp farm, it is in complete contrast to the start of the film where the Amish people walk down the same road bringing something good to Rachel where as now the Cops are bringing Danger.
At the end of the shootout we find out that John is leaving. This is shown most clearly when he puts the dovecot back up. This symbolises him restoring the peace in the community by leaving. Another clue we get to hint that John is leaving is when he changes back into his city clothes. This suggests he is leaving as he looks out of place.
Weir leaves he audience with mixed emotions at the end of the film. The main message he leaves us with is that the forbidden love between John and Rachel should stay forbidden, as life would be very hard if they stayed together. This is the main reason why we accept it in the end.
In conclusion setting is very important in “witness” as we are given a sensitive picture of an unusual way of life. The contrast between the two settings helps us to understand the main themes of the film.