By Anthony Salimbene
When I heard about this limited series, I was
immediately attracted. Another film on the Central Park Five. One of the
most widely publicized and notorious crimes of the eighties. I watched
the trailer and it looked amazing, so my hopes were high. The film shown as a
documentary style film was directed by
Ava DuVernay and it outlined the injustices of the judicial system, police,
detectives, and even the district attorney. Five innocent fourteen to sixteen
year old kids were treated brutally and sentenced as men to unspeakable crimes.
April 19th, 1989. A large group, around thirty
kids went “whylin out” in Central Park. Throughout the night they started
messing with random people they passed, even attacking and hitting them.
People began to call the police and next thing you know Kevin Richards,
Anton Mccray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise were all in Police
custody.
Police Detectives led by head of the sex crimes
unit, Linda Farstein, coerce and corner these kids. They begin to interrogate
them without their parents there. They hold the kids in custody for more than
seventy hours with no food or water. They eventually have them sign false
statements and fabricate evidence to get a guilty verdict. This film does not
paint any of these authority figures in a good light.
When it is time for a verdict. The jury convicts
the boys of rape and attempted murder. Korey Wise was sixteen at the time and
was sent straight to Rikers Island, his fate was much more horrific than the
younger boys. After more than ten years of absolute hell, the truth came to
light. In 2002, the assailant came forward and confessed to the crime. DNA
evidence and other evidence was used to determine he was the actual assailant
and that the central park five were completely innocent. They were all
released, charges were dropped and slates wiped clean. In 2014 New York City
awarded them one of the biggest settlements the city has given.
The main characters in this film are five
different boys. Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam,
and Korey Wise. Kevin was fourteen years old, had a great relationship with his
parents and played the trumpet. Antron was fifteen years old, loved sports and
the Yankees. Raymond was also fourteen years old, didn't have a good
relationship with his dad and mom was not present. Yusef was fifteen, very
intelligent and never got into trouble. Korey was the only one who was sixteen,
had a great relationship with his mom, and his best friends.
The one thing about all the characters is that
they didn't know each other until they were all taken in. The actors playing
all these roles did an absolutely amazing job. You would believe that the characters
are the actual people. The film uses the most basic special effects.
There are many beautiful scenes including when the five are released.
When they are going through trial the camera does many close ups on the
defendants, witnesses and attorneys. I personally loved the film. I have zero
bad things to say about it. The entire
time I was watching it I was glued to my couch, I couldn't look away or walk
away.
My Favorite scene was watching Korey suffer in
jail. It sounds absolutely terrible for me to say that or type it. Watching
those scenes helped me really fully understand how bad this situation was. The
United States government wrongfully convicted five innocent boys and Korey had
it the worst. It wasn't a good story, it was a memorable one. I recommend
this film to any living being in high school or older. One of the greatest
films made. I can’t even think or begin to think of what to compare it to. I
rate this film ten out of ten.
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