Ken Burns: The Central Park Five

4.5 stars... why did the innocent confess? Watch!
In late 2011, Sarah Burns published the "Central Park Five" book, and in late, 2012, the documentary based on this book, or perhaps more accurately stated, made in conjunction with this book, was released in the theatre (I saw it at the Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington DC about a month ago). This co-documentary is directed by the book's author as well as David McMahon and Ken Burns (yes, that Ken Burns).

"The Central Park Five" (120 min.) brings in excruciating (but riveting and enraging) details the background of the infamous "Central Park jogger" case of a woman who was savagely attacked, raped and left for dead while jogging in New York's Central Park in 1989. By coincidence that very same evening a bunch of black and latino 14 and 15 yr. old teenagers were hanging out in Central Park and pretty quickly the New York police rounded up a number of them, eventually causing 5 of them to admit to a crime they did not commit. This of course then goes to the very heart of...

The Counter Turfseer Review
My initial reaction to reading the Turfseer review of this film was a belief, based on the errors and the distortion of facts in the review,that the reviewer saw a different film from the one I saw or was merely ignorant of the truth because he didn't understand the film.. A closer reading leads me to believe that something more serious, perhaps even sinister, is afoot here: a deliberate attempt to mislead those without direct unbiased knowledge of the events discussed in the film, and to advance the unsupported theories and suppositions of some of those directly involved in the original miscarriage of justice.

To wit: Turfseer writes ( I shall hereafter include Turfseer's accounts in quotes and my answers below them):

"the Central Park Five (CPF) were not only convicted of rape (in most cases) but also assaulting other people in the park that night. Burns and the CPF want you to believe that they merely observed two serious assaults in the park and acted...

Ken Burn's "The Central Park Five"
Ken Burns did a great job of reporting the facts surrounding this explosive case. The five teenagers accused and the victim were treated with care, and still yet the truth. This movie is worth seeing, as it is an example of rushing to judgement, an example racial tension, and an example of poor police. Thank God for Reyes finally stepping up to prove what an injustice, and still there has been no reconciliation in monetary compensation for the injustice. Again, I say that Ken Burns and others did an excellent job of reporting.

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