The Witness (French: Le Témoin, Italian: Il testimone) is a French-Italian crime-thriller film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky and starring Alberto Sordi and Philippe Noiret.

[1][2] Italian artist Antonio Berti is invited by his French friend Robert Maurisson to restore the paintings in the Reims Cathedral.

Initially, the director Mocky chose Jean Gabin for the leading role, that of a piano teacher accused of murdering a young girl.

The profession of the protagonist was changed to be an art restorer, and the production was moved to Rome though several scenes were filmed in and around Reims where the action takes place.

Sordi's participation posed another problem—there is no capital punishment in Italy, and screenwriter Sergio Amidei had to find an acceptable ending for the Italian audiences.