Watch The Witness For Free

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply A Masterpiece

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The documentary is narrated by Bill Genovese as he searches for answers about the murder of his sister Kitty Genovese. Kitty was killed in the night of March 13, 1964 and the truth about her murder has been the subject of many theories as to what really happened that night, and in 2015, Bill decided to get answers of his own. When it comes to filming, the camera would follow Bill's journey, with cameras in place, catching his interactions and his facial expressions and reactions. Being a documentary that is more of a personal subject, it took a serious, realistic, and used music to add an emotional touch. Bill's interviews with the different witnesses was interesting as it shows each persons different perspective or accounts and adds accuracy to the content of the documentary. The part of the documentary that was most interesting was the reenactment of Kitty's murder as it not only gave Bill an understanding of what she went through but also puts him in the position of the witnesses himself and allows him to form his own beliefs to what may have occurred. This part also gave viewers a personal perspective on what Kitty went through and puts them in the position of the witnesses. This gives viewers a chance to form their own opinions without bias. A surprising part of the interview was when Bill met with Steve and the conversation they had as it shows how each viewed the case and how they live up to their legacy. The documentary could've shown more details of the interviews to show all the actions that occurred between Bill and each individual and show more of their personalities. Overall this documentary was well done, something that would be recommended for the curious minded of one of the most compelling cases in the world.

I recently had the pleasure of viewing the documentary Witness in my intro to writing English class. The documentary shows an in-depth analysis of the murder case of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese. She was murdered around 3 am by a man named Winston Moseley who has had an unrepresented history of murdering and raping women. Before I watched the doc, I read the first article posted by the New York Times (38 who saw murder and didn't call police) that was printed a couple weeks after Kitty's murder. From viewing Witness, I found that this article was intentionally skewed to push the blame of kitty's murder onto the residents of Kew Gardens in Queens, where kitty was murdered. It also neglected to inform its audience of the details of her murderer, the true antagonist of this story. This documentary has shown me that I shouldn't just stop at ground level if I want the true story, I need to really investigate what I'm being told. Thank you, Bill Genovese and family, for opening your world to us.

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.

"The Witness" is definitely an emotional movie and I truly feel bad for Bill Genovese and his family. The purpose of this documentary was to help explain what happened to Kitty Genovese. You get to see what some of the witnesses actually saw and heard during the murder. The interviews and camera work were very well done. Before I watched the movie I knew about what happened and how it really wasn't 38 eyewitnesses. Although it was very emotional, especially the ending, I did not like the movie. I expected to end up with answers but instead felt like it just left more questions. Why investigate the murders now 50 years after the fact? Why not do it earlier, when there probably would have been more answers. It seemed that the people that turned down to be interviewed, like Moseley and Kitty's husband, had already moved on and didn't want to reopen old wounds. I feel like this movie was a waste of time as I did not learn anything knew after watching the movie and just felt bad that Bill Genovese wasn't able to get the closure he might have wanted.