The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie Review

No justice, no peace.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 24, 2013

With “The Central Park Five,” Sarah Burns enters the filmmaking scene, accepting the challenge of a documentary concentrating on a monumental perversion of justice. Of course, Burns has a few aces up her sleeve, bringing in husband David McMahon and father Ken Burns (the man behind such iconic programming as “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and the recent “The Dust Bowl”) to co-direct, joining the family business as a seeker of truth and an admirer of history. Those already in step with the Burns way won’t be surprised by the look and feel of “The Central Park Five,” but the story is unforgettable, detailing a nightmare scenario for five Harlem teenagers facing hard prison time and the condemnation of America for a crime they didn’t commit.

On April 19, 1989, Caucasian Wall Street employee Trisha Meili was raped in Central Park, a horrible crime that left her with severe injuries and a case of amnesia, barely surviving the wicked attack. Also inside the park at the same time were Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise, and Yusef Salaam, five unruly African-American teenagers out to cause a little trouble inside New York City’s iconic open space. While the boys were nowhere near the crime scene, local law enforcement officials needed to locate perpetrators quickly to answer for such a heinous act, finding these naive kids to be an ideal target, soon working to pull a confession out the group through extended and deceptive interrogation techniques, leaving the tired and frightened juveniles eager to agree to anything just so the terrifying ordeal could end. Instead of acquiring peace of mind, taped confessions eventually brought the boys to trial, where they were convicted on multiple charges surrounding Meili’s sexual assault, sent to prison while the media hungrily fed on any morsel of outrage it could provide, while New York City officials proudly trumpeted the conviction as step forward in the reclamation of a fallen city.

The production sets the situation immediately, introducing the viewer to NYC in the 1980s, where Wall Street greed was in the process of rebuilding the reputation of the mighty metropolis, while crack ravaged the inner city, creating an explosive racial divide. “The Central Park Five” is careful to emphasize racial sensitivity, as the Meili case was primarily about skin color, observing cops, government officials, and legal forces determined to bring anyone to justice for the crime, finding five African-American teens to railroad -- a manipulation so swift and severe, even parental figures were steamrolled as well, powerless to object as their children were bullied into admitting guilt.

“The Central Park Five” finds its voice in the convicted kids, now grown men nursing serious PTSD issues over the incident. While McCray has reduced his participation to audio-only thoughts, the rest of the Five openly discuss the particulars of the night their lives changed forever, recalling the brutal exploitation of their juvenile minds by seasoned cops hungry to close the case. Coerced into taped confessions explaining their evening of “wilding” (prompting the nickname “The Wolf Pack”), the Five soon faced their greatest adversary: the media. Feeding on the salacious particulars of African-American males ganging up on helpless Caucasian woman, newspapers and television reporters damned the Five before they were allowed a trial, while city leaders such as Mayor Ed Koch feverishly joined the fray, aiming to make an example out of the teens.

The pain of the Five as they discuss their psychological fracture is heartbreaking to witness, even when the men in question were no angels, in the park that night on a troublemaking mission with 25 other kids. The documentary doesn’t fit the participants for halos, but there’s overwhelming compassion for their ordeal, with frightening incidents of mistreatment and deceit recalled in detail, leading up to the two sets of trials for the Five, where impatient jurors disregarded clear evidence of innocence to speed up the process of justice. It’s an amazing story of condemnation, and “The Central Park Five” deftly weaves recent interviews with file footage and artistic renderings of the misery, pinpointing key mistakes in the case while isolating the hubris of those responsible for the destruction of five burgeoning lives.

The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation weaves a sophisticated web of film and video sources, with harsh VHS images of the subjects as boys smoothly integrated into the HD interview footage. Fine detail on the men is quite strong, offering a crisp read of skin details and contemplative silences, while artwork prepared for the documentary is sharp and effortlessly surveyed. Skintones are natural throughout. Shadow detail is healthy, rarely displaying distracting solidification, and fabrics are rich with texture. Banding is minimal. Colors are perhaps most impressive on the disc, finding street life, conversations, file footage, and pastel drawings registering with buoyancy and purpose.

The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix offers a more immersive experience than the average crime documentary, with meticulous attention paid to the music of the era and the toxic noise of the media outcry. Surrounds are modest but alive, pushing out scoring and soundtrack cues, while crowd activity is handed a light, circular touch. Front stage is confident with a blend of music and voice, setting the mood with classic hip-hop and scoring that doesn't overwhelm the interview segments, constructing an informational depth of sound that stitches film and video sources seamlessly. Conversations with the men in question are emotional and full, capturing the nuances of confusion and despair without distortion.

The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (18:44, HD) compiles several featurettes into a single stream of thought, tracing the origins of the documentary with co-director Sarah Burns, who funneled her expertise on the case into a screen inspection, bringing her family along for the ride. The information here is mostly routine, working through intent and education on the case, offering illuminating chats with key production members, though Ken Burns has a special way of making a purposed piece of cinema feel like icky sermonizing, especially when he claims the movie is devoid of bias. Most interestingly, the discussion turns to post-release legal tangles that could finally allow the Five their long awaited day in court.

• "After 'The Central Park Five'" (13:03, HD) catches up with the men as they assimilate back into daily life and process their past experiences as the documentary is released. Referring to the reflection as "therapy," the subjects are honest about their anger and depression, yet there's hope to be found, with a few of the Five turning to public speaking as a way of sharing the experiences and education with the world. Bizarrely, McCray, who elected to be heard instead of seen in the feature, is revealed in film festival photographs, seemingly negating his earlier request for anonymity.

The Central Park Five Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Missing here are additional viewpoints, chiefly the investigation team (though it's no surprise they wouldn't agree to interviews) and Meili, who's already profited off her attack with a book, yet doesn't sit down with the production to give her side of the story (while it reads perfectly logical, her absence is strange considering the investigative depth of the film). "The Central Park Five" remains with the defeated men and their haunted memories, and while their story of injustice provides a riveting, emotionally exhausting viewing experience, there are a few corners cut from the documentary that feel necessary to a complete understanding of the case and its fallout. Burns and Co. once again nail the complexity of history with traditionally eye-opening results, yet "The Central Park Five" isn't quite as comprehensive as hoped, capping such profound pain with a few nagging question marks.