On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese spent the last 30 minutes of her life being raped and stabbed to death while 38 New Yorkers famously exercised their rights to be apathetic onlookers by pulling down the shades and cranking the volume on their television sets. The Witness sheds precious little light on the life of Ms. Genovese — more is disclosed about the layout of the neighborhood than the victim — choosing instead to focus on her brother, Bill, a wheelchair-bound Vietnam vet trying desperately to come to terms with the events surrounding his sister’s slaughter. At the time, New York Times editor Abe Rosenthal purposely withheld crucial information from the story, in hopes of profiting from the tragedy to sell papers. Is this any less principled than first time director James D. Solomon lining the intersection where the murder took place with a bank of hidden camera and hiring an actress to recreate the victim’s tortured cries for help? (2015) — Scott Marks
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