The Witness

On 13 March 1964 Kitty Genovese was murdered outside her building in Queens. In the days that followed the New York Times reported that thirty eight people had seen it and none had helped. That report entered the sociology books and became the example for what is called bystander apathy. Kitty's brother Bill grew up with it. Years later he opens the case himself; he talks to witnesses, reporters, prosecutors and finally to the killer's family. The picture that comes out is not the one in the report. James Solomon directs; it is his first film and it took eleven years. Bill Genovese narrates and is one of its producers. It is an American production. Bill Genovese lost both legs in Vietnam, and his decision to go was bound up with his sister's story. The research shows the number of witnesses was inflated; many only heard a scream and saw nothing, and at least one says she called the police. The film was shortlisted for best documentary at the 89th Academy Awards and did not make the final five. The matter it treats is a story outgrowing its own facts; a wrong number stayed in textbooks for half a century. The documentary also brings back Kitty's own life; who she was had never been written in the coverage. The narrative questions the brother's obsession too and shows the strain inside the family. The film uses interviews and archive rather than reconstruction. The ending offers no closing. Its limit is its single voice; the narrative proceeds entirely through Bill's view and the distance is narrow. Who it is for: viewers curious about investigative documentary and the history of the press. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the view narrow, and the ending unresolved.