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THE WITNESS (USA 2016) ***1/2
Directed by James Solomon

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE WITNESS, is a documentary about the 38 witnesses of the 1964 stabbing of Kitty Genovese. But it turns out that they all did nothing. Or so it seems. Could it be true that Americans are that soulless? The film goes on to probe how it is impossible for that many people to see everything and do nothing. As the film progresses, THE WITNESS covers many other stories. Though the stories are quite different, they are all linked to the stabbing. But the real story that stands out is the one of Bill Genovese, Kitty’s brother who is in almost every frame of the film.

The details of the case: Kitty was a bar waitress in Kew Gardens, Queens who was randomly stabbed by a stranger named Winston Moseley—who later told police he was just looking for a woman to kill—then raped and robbed by him after he returned to finish the job. The New York Times later reported that 38 witnesses heard and even saw some part of the attack but didn’t call police and failed to intervene or even call attention to it.

Solomon’s film is absorbing for many reasons. The most important of these is Bill’s fixation on finding the truth about his sister’s murder. Bill will not stop. He investigates the New York Times reporter, ironically nicknamed Honest Abe who twisted the story to make it one that made news around the whole country. The fact of 38 witnesses doing nothing became a sociology study in many colleges. Bill also goes through a checklist of all the witnesses and questions each of those who are still alive. He goes so far as to ask to speak with Winston Mosley, his sitter’s killer, now serving sentence. When Mosley declined to meet Bill, Bill met his son. This meeting (which does no appear to be a re-enactment) is the film’s tensest segment. Initially, Mosley’s son, who is a reverend appears detached and unhelpful. When he finally confesses how he also suffered, especially at school with kids calling him the murderer’s son, Bill and the audience begin to feel for him.

But he film finally looks at Bill. When will Bill give up and accept the facts and move on? The investigation also reveals Kitty’s character. It is also revealed that she is gay. Bill interviews some of her lesbian friends as well.

Solomon’s film is intriguing in that it goes many different directions just as Bill’s life has taken him. Bill has also lost two legs while serving in the marines during the Vietnam war.

In the end, it is up to the audience to determine what Bill has gained from his intensive search. And in the process, learn from the film a few valuable lessons in life.

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