Lazo - Witness and The Mosquito Coast

Witness and The Mosquito Coast are both directed by Peter Weir, and have some interesting structural similarities. Both films feature a break down in faith in a patriarchy. Witness presents a patriarchy with the Amish society, more specifically represented in the Lapp family with Eli and Samuel. Allie Fox is the strong patriarchal figure in his family and the Geronimo community in The Mosquito Coast; he is idolized by his son, Charlie, for much of the film. Samuel and Charlie both look up to these men as strong role models, but both boys transcend the knowledge of these father figures after losing their innocence.

Samuel is the titular character of Witness who saw a corrupt police official murder an undercover cop. As the conspiracy is unraveled, he returns to his Amish community under the protection of Detective John Book. Samuel is fascinated with Book's pistol, and this curiosity troubles Eli. Eli asks Samuel if he would take a life. The wisdom and power of the patriarchal society is clear as Samuel sits on Eli's lap; Eli obviously cares for Samuel given this affectionate paternal interaction. Book's pistol sits on the table, center screen, and serves as the dominant, representing the violence that has spurred the events of the film and stolen Samuel's innocence. Samuel responds that he would take the life of a bad man, saying "I've seen what bad men do." Eli is an honorable man, but is ignorant of the "real" world outside of the Amish community. By witnessing the murder, Samuel has surpassed Eli in this aspect of worldly knowledge.

The Mosquito Coast focuses on Allie Fox's increasing mania in his pursuit for an idealistic society that appreciates his scientific genius. Charlie loves his father and thinks the world of him. However, the strain of moving to Geronimo and making the trek to a primitive village starts to wear on Charlie's opinion of his father. The scene with the mercenaries is when Charlie truly loses his innocence. At Allie's request, Charlie helps him lure the men into Fat Boy and start the machine, which would kill them. The men try to escape, causing Fat Boy to explode and destroy the village. Throughout this scene, the most dominating elements are Fat Boy and Allie's reaction, which is shot from Charlie's point of view. Everything Allie built is crumbling before him, and he is devastated by its destruction; Charlie watches from afar and realizes that his father has effectively lost his mind. He no longer idolizes Allie, but understands that Allie has gone too far with his idealist pursuit of science; Charlie sees that the good of his family and people must come first, something Allie never seems to come to terms with.