Peter Weir Films Ranked
12. The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
An isolated town in New South Wales plays host to a suspicious number of car accidents until a newcomer and lucky survivor of one such wreck begins to dig into the disturbing local business.
Peter Weir’s low-budget Ozploitation feature debut (also known as The Cars That Eat People) marked him out as a filmmaker to watch but it is an oddity, that’s for sure.
The Cars That Ate Paris is one of those films that you might not fully understand but it still leaves you more than a little disturbed and determined to make sure you never stop off in a backwater town like it depicts, just in case…
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11. Green Card (1990)
American horticulturist Bronte (Andie MacDowell) enters into a marriage of convenience with French composer Georges (Gérard Depardieu) to grant him permanent residency in the United States only for their snowballing lies to land them in hot water with US Immigration.
It’s strange looking back at a time when Gérard Depardieu made for a convincing romantic lead, but this film – one of the few Weir wrote as well as directed – just about pulls it off.
If you don’t buy any of the standard rom-com contrivances then Green Card probably won’t be the one for you, but it does explore an issue still thoroughly relevant today and Weir’s pretty sharp script paired with the stars’ charisma makes the big moments land more often than not.
10. Witness (1985)
Detective John Book (Harrison Ford) protects an Amish mother and her son who witnessed the murder of an informant by a corrupt cop. The detective escorts them back to their community to keep them out of harm’s way and in the process learns about their way of life.
By movie star standards, Harrison Ford has rarely rested on his laurels. When not playing Indiana Jones or Han Solo, he has always made interesting choices and Witness is certainly that.
The multi-time Oscar-nominated film has a really intriguing premise and definitely keeps you on your toes throughout, but is probably one of Weir’s films that has aged the least well over time, coming across as somewhat patronising to the community at its heart and its unlikely romance element being a little uncomfortable when you stop to think about it.
