The Witness (2015)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A Masterpiece!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The documentary "The Witness" was an absolutely captivating film that followed the emotional turmoils of Bill Genovese discovering and coming to terms with the murder of his sister, Catherine Genovese. It dove in deeply into the injustices and inaccuracies brought forward by the case and the New York Times article, "37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police." The film was made with the intention of reaching an audience striving to learn more about this extremely famous case. While Bill Genovese is trying to discover and inform us of the truths about his sisters death, the film also intends to teach the audience to not believe everything put out by the media. The imagery and soundbites throughout the film where elegantly capturing raw human reactions and emotions brought forth in Bill's interviews with the "37 witnesses." The film, in a way, changed my way of thinking and opened my mind to truly question everything.

James Solomon phenomenally intertwines the power of sensationalism and the devastating effects of foul journalism in an emotionally heavy, eighty-nine minute masterpiece, The Witness. By allowing America to follow Bill Genovese's personal journey to seek the truth of the brutal murder of his beloved sister, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, Solomon taps into the minds of many viewers and allows us to question something in which we, as Americans, are unconditionally susceptible to—the press. Bill Genovese does a superb job invalidating The New York Times article. By bringing the audience alongside with him as he met Kitty's friend, Sophia Farrar, as he hired an actress to reenact the death of Kitty Genovese, or as he read the letter in which Winston Moseley falsely put together lies, the audience was able to experience the roller-coaster of emotions and perceive Kitty Genovese as a person, not just an unfortunate example of Urban Apathy. This documentary will leave you realizing that there truly is two sides of a story and by simply projecting a shoddy argument, it can impact people's lives for years. The importance of engaging in sensationalism is brought to light as you see the emotional damage left to the Genovese family. Whether it be the new generations of Genovese ignorance towards their aunt, Kitty Genovese, or Kitty's siblings inability (besides Bill) to reveal the truth, The New York Times has left a mark.

In the documentary The Witness, Bill Genovese searches for the truth behind the sensationalized story of his sister's death through the use of illustrations recreating the crime scene, old images and videos, and a present day interviews. In addition to Bill Genovese's commitment to discovering the true events of the night of his sister's death, The Witness provides a unique view into the lasting emotional effects of Kitty's death on her family and friends, which other presentations of the case lack. It was interesting to see the current effects of the event that occurred 50 years ago. However, the a lot of facts that provided the basis for Bill Genovese's case were obtained for interviews from the people involved 50 years ago. It is hard to determine how accurate the small details that he relies on from these conversations when the events happened so long ago.

"The Witness", directed by James Solomon, gave the audience an inside perspective into Bill's journey to find answers to his sister's, Kitty Genovese, premature death. I can remember learning about Kitty Genovese and the 38 who witnesses in high school psychology. After watching Bill look for answers about his sister's death, it showed me that the things that I learned in high school were not all completely true and that most the witnesses were just ear witnesses and that they did not actually see the murder. With the murder happening so long ago, Bill was not able to get all the answers that he wanted but he did say that "this story taught us more about Kitty than we would have ever known. "The key aspect of the film making that I found the most interesting are the interviews with the witnesses that Bill was able to talk to. They gave him closure and information that countered the famous New York Times article and without their stories Bill wouldn't have had any information to compare to the news articles. "The Witness" does a very good job at getting the audience emotionally involved, showing the audience the truth behind the 38 witnesses, and showing us Kitty's life before the murder.