Details
Film Title: 12 Angry Men
Year: 1957
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Stars: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J.Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber
Running Time: 96 mins, 1 hr 36 mins
Language: English
Rough Plot Synopsis: A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.
Thoughts
This is one of the those films that impresses with its interesting premise alone: members of a jury, trapped on the hottest day of the year in a room deciding the fate of an 18 year old boy charged with the first-degree murder of his father. Tensions mount, voices are raised and soon what started out to be a routine deliberation in the jury room escalates into an intense stand-off of opinions, prejudices and ethics.
With an interesting enough story, what impressed me the most with this film was its simplicity. Pretty much the entire film takes place inside the jury room. Even when the jurors speculate on what might have happened, we were not shown any other scenes except of them arguing in the jury room, which I thought was a very bold decision considering that if it was not done well, the film could turn out to be very boring. However, with great acting and a great script, the film definitely succeeds in keeping viewers in suspense as details of the case in question are revealed and reviewed one at a time and the audience is trusted to use their imagination to fill in the blanks.
At the beginning of the film, the viewer is presented with what seems like a clear-cut case of first-degree murder, however like the jurors, the viewer slowly finds that there is plenty of room for reasonable doubt regarding the boy's innocence. By the end of the film, it is clear that not all of the jurors were performing their duty justly and professionally, allowing their personal prejudices and vendettas cloud their judgement, which is the source of all the tension and drama.
It is rare to find such films that can be so entertaining while managing to stay so simple. One other example I can think of is Glengary Glen Ross(1992), which also showcases superb acting and scriptwriting.
12 Angry Men(1957) is definitely a film that I would recommend for those who enjoy films that feature quality dialogue and drama.
Film Title: 12 Angry Men
Year: 1957
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Stars: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J.Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber
Running Time: 96 mins, 1 hr 36 mins
Language: English
Rough Plot Synopsis: A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.
Thoughts
This is one of the those films that impresses with its interesting premise alone: members of a jury, trapped on the hottest day of the year in a room deciding the fate of an 18 year old boy charged with the first-degree murder of his father. Tensions mount, voices are raised and soon what started out to be a routine deliberation in the jury room escalates into an intense stand-off of opinions, prejudices and ethics.
With an interesting enough story, what impressed me the most with this film was its simplicity. Pretty much the entire film takes place inside the jury room. Even when the jurors speculate on what might have happened, we were not shown any other scenes except of them arguing in the jury room, which I thought was a very bold decision considering that if it was not done well, the film could turn out to be very boring. However, with great acting and a great script, the film definitely succeeds in keeping viewers in suspense as details of the case in question are revealed and reviewed one at a time and the audience is trusted to use their imagination to fill in the blanks.
At the beginning of the film, the viewer is presented with what seems like a clear-cut case of first-degree murder, however like the jurors, the viewer slowly finds that there is plenty of room for reasonable doubt regarding the boy's innocence. By the end of the film, it is clear that not all of the jurors were performing their duty justly and professionally, allowing their personal prejudices and vendettas cloud their judgement, which is the source of all the tension and drama.
It is rare to find such films that can be so entertaining while managing to stay so simple. One other example I can think of is Glengary Glen Ross(1992), which also showcases superb acting and scriptwriting.
12 Angry Men(1957) is definitely a film that I would recommend for those who enjoy films that feature quality dialogue and drama.