Joe Pascale - Northfork

Witness. The idea of being a witness was the strongest point in this film. While doing a little research on the film I found information about the closing quote spoken by Nick Nolte's character Father Harlan. While filming the short scene of the small church with no back wall in the beginning of the film, the director instructed Nolte to ad-lib some as a warm up and make it a sad topic. What Nolte came up with and spoke during that scene was to be used as the final quote of the film, the voice over about being a witness. Father Harlan concludes in the movie that being a witness in death is whats most important. I think the idea of being a witness is very powerful, yet subtle in the film. Father Harlan was Irwin's witness in death, his "helper" in a sense that he helped him into the afterlife. Besides doing this in a physical way by caring for him, but also by praying for him. It was Father Harlan's prayers that convinced the angels that Irwin actually was an angel. Even before that, it was Father Harlan that led Irwin to the angels. The dog-like wooden creature was modeled after Harlan's cane, it was the dog-like creature that led Irwin to the house of the angels. The film was rich in symbolism and imagery. The film and its characters had a very bleek and desolate feel, much like the countryside that surrounded them. Beyond the country side rose the majestic mountains that were also witnesses. They towered over the land long before the town of Northfork was there and they would still be witnesses after it was gone, flooded by the new dam. In the end, Walter and his son had to move his wife from the graveyard that would be flooded. They moved her to higher ground, symbolic in itself of being closer to heaven, but also made witnesses of all them. Walter and Willis were witnesses of the woman's journey. She may have died, but her remains still meant a lot to Walter. He witnessed another chapter in her death, her new resting place. Her new resting place also made a witness of her, in an abstract since. She was now on the high ground and would witness the transformation of the valley, like the mountains had been doing for years and years.