moonspinner55 Review of The Witness

The Witness (I) (2015)

"She was a witness who didn't even know she was a witness..."

[8/10 · 6 October 2016]

Bill Genovese, one of the three brothers of slain New York tavern manager Kitty Genovese (in a murder case dating back to 1964), seeks closure to his sister's horrific death, wherein over 30 residents of a Queens apartment house allegedly heard her screaming for help after being stabbed repeatedly in the early morning hours but did not respond. Bill--a forthright and determined man able to get about almost effortlessly in a wheelchair--has become obsessed with the details of the crime over the past 50 years and, with the help of co-writer-producer-director James D. Solomon, gains incredible access to both everyday citizens and journalists who were either directly or indirectly involved. Bill discovers the facts of the case were somewhat embellished by reporters eager to sell newspapers on the strength of the story's more sensational aspects. He also reenacts the crime with an actress on the exact spot his sister was slain (with advance notice to the neighbors, of course). Most telling is a meeting with the son of Winston Moseley, Kitty's now-incarcerated killer, who admits to being apprehensive of meeting Bill after years of hearing that the Genovese family were part of the Italian Mafia. An altogether compelling, absorbing and emotional film, impeccably assembled and thought-provoking. ***1/2 from ****