The Witness documents Bill Genovese's attempt to understand the circumstances surrounding the murder of his sister, Kitty Genovese. Those familiar with the murder by Winston Moseley and the subsequent explosion of media coverage were most likely the intended audience. With this documentary, Bill sets out to find the truth about what happened on the night of March 13th, 1964, and the alleged thirty-eight witnesses who did nothing. Before watching this movie, I was aware of the true events as well as the sensationalism that followed, and I expected to see the "urban apathy" angle on the events discussed and refuted which was included. My favorite sections of the film were the parts that were stylistic, gray scale, and animated, and where silhouettes of the witnesses looking down on the first attack voiced their recollections of the events unfolding. I also enjoyed the tense interaction between Bill and Winston Moseley's son in which both sides are victims of circumstance. However, I did not like the reenactment where Bill has a woman scream loudly on the same street where Kitty was attacked. It seemed like a cheap way to evoke an emotional response from the viewers and further played into Bill's obsession with the murder. Overall, I enjoyed this documentary, but I was let down by the seemingly intentional lack of conclusion. I would recommend this to anyone curious about the true events and the aftermath of the murder of Kitty Genovese.
Review of The Witness
