Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay: Reginald Rose

Running time: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Dramas



CRITIQUE:


Just who in their right minds would want to watch an entire film about a dozen cranky, hotheaded jurors set in a single room – technically speaking, a courtroom drama without the actual legal battle, a crime investigation with nary a sight of a crime scene, a thriller without explosive stunts? Anyone who’s up for a challenging cinematic experience should. This intellectually and morally rewarding drama set in a swelteringly hot day inside a jury room questions, explores and simultaneously dismantles the American legal system and exposes human bigotry and the system’s astonishing reliance on cold, hard logic. Expect cinematic fireworks here, more than one named Michael Bay could ever pull off.


There is an utter lack of interest in plot here, and it’s even remarkable for that; the movie starts rolling after a court proceeding of a slum youth accused of murdering his own father, where the twelve unnamed juries had to vote whether the boy is guilty or not. We’ve seen a good amount of court battles, lawyers spitting tirades and accusations, but rarely do we see cinema penetrating into the very nucleus of the decision-making body. Twelve citizens from the different echelons of society are convened to decide the fate of one accused man, and never a single character remained in the shadows underdeveloped. The perceptive and superbly written script by Reginald Rose harbours a wonderful knowing of these twelve characters, from Henry Fonda’s meticulous-minded architect, the film’s crusading hero, to Lee J. Cobb’s vociferous, irrational snob, and even provides surprising poignancy in Joseph Sweeney’s wise old codger with an experience. Radiating with compelling performances, Sidley Lumet, first-time director here, infuses his camerawork with incisive watchfulness. Despite his claustrophobic setting, he still manages to move around his camera, veering from one character to another and even mounts the unforgiving power of close-ups, where not a character emotion is left unestablished on the actors’ faces. In its technical aestheticism, this owes significantly to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope that has a parallel concept of one setting, minimal editing and gliding camera techniques – but where the filmic exercise of Rope tackles an intellectual murder, 12 Angry Men excels more purposefully with a deft harmony of both the mind and, yes, the heart.


VERDICT:

The clever irony of 12 Angry Men is that despite of its claustrophobic jury-room setting, it says an awful lot about justice, the American judicial system, social prejudice and humanity more than a hundred courtroom dramas put together. Spellbinding cinema. It is also, Gods help us, miraculously moving.



RATING: A+