12 Angry Men

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2017)

I wonder what it must have been like for Sidney Lumet to direct a perfect film for his feature film debut. Lumet had worked on television shows before directing his 1957 film 12 Angry Men, a debut film examining justice and the motivation behind people's actions and the motivation behind their decisions when a group of jurors decides whether to convict a young man of a murder that would result in his being sentenced to death. First developed for a CBS Studio One anthology television series, Reginald Rose wrote 12 Angry Men and developed it into a teleplay in 1954. Lumet's version is still thought of by many as a perfect film 60 years after its release. With an all-star cast including Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, and Jack Klugman among others, 12 Angry Men is my personal favorite film to watch when I want to see a collection of the best acting talent. What I wouldn't give to have been in the theatres during the first run of 12 Angry Men. I can only imagine the audience reaction to such a powerful yet understated film. Alas, I was born in the wrong time and instead of being able to head to the cinema and see 12 Angry Men, I'm here buying tickets for The Emoji Movie.
A desperate teenager is seen staring longingly at the men who just heard his case exiting the jury stall. He knows they will be the ones deciding his fate. The young man is on trial for the murder of his father, and if convicted, will face the death penalty. From the outside, his case looks open and shut. He had an argument with his father that was overheard by neighbors, he owned a knife which was the same weapon used to kill his father, and he had previous grievances with the law. Most of the jurors file into their sequestered room assuming they won't be in long, as the verdict seems clear. One juror, however, has doubts and refuses to cast a vote for guilty without at least discussing the case as they've been assigned to do. Begrudgingly the jurors begin to discuss the case sure that their minds won't be changed. One by one, however. further examination of the evidence and the factors involved in the case reveal the motivations each man had used to inform their decision was less based on evidence and more so on their own biases. An exploration of the human psyche and what motivates our thought processes, 12 Angry Men has more than earned its place as one of American cinema's best.
The opening credit sequence of 12 Angry Men was a divine long shot, achieved at a high-angle through a fan, that would provide a source of tension throughout the film, of each of the jurors filing into the room preparing to see to the matters of the case. After their opening vote reveals only one holdout, mob mentality takes over as a few vocal members of the majority intend on proving to Henry Fonda's juror #8 why their view on the matter is more accurate than his. In doing so, they also reveal their biases and the different factors driving their decision. Whether it's the lonely brokenness of a severed relationship or attempting to assert dominance to shield one's own powerlessness, each man is operating with far more than the facts of the case driving them. The lengths Lumet went to conceal the names of the jurors was one of the best decisions he made to drive home the universality of the film's message. At one point, a court worker asks one of the jurors his name and he points to it on the clip board held by the court worker. In a typical situation, one would have just said their name out loud, but Lumet's stroke of brilliance avoided names being used through the entire runtime of the film allowing audiences the chance to see themselves in the characters depicted on screen. Whether we are aware or not, and whether we act on them or not, we are all driven by personal biases. We learn the set of biases that drive us as we mature, first from our immediate familial surroundings, then from the people we surround ourselves with and the circumstances we endure. If those biases are negative, it is our responsibility to analyze them and see that we eradicate them. As a character study, 12 Angry Men is top- notch with no small thanks owed to the exceptional cast. Every single name on the credits list is that of a well-established actor of the time. Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Ed Begley, and Henry Fonda are only half the cast and each known by an extensive body of work. One exceptional aspect, which also points to Lumet's directorial prowess he possessed even from his feature film debut is how improbable it is that this film would be such a success. One-setting films with small casts and rich in dialogue are not the easiest films to pull off, yet you'd be hard- pressed to find someone who won't give accolades to 12 Angry Men. Not once through the runtime is the film static nor does it lose the engagement of the audience. Lumet ends the film in a sensational way, as well. When Fonda helps Cobb with his coat after the two were the fiercest of adversaries during deliberations, Lumet communicated to the audience that we are all capable of seeing past what initially drives our motives and can possibly overcome them and come together on the other side. Then, just before the film ends, we learn Fonda's name and see he and another juror uncomfortably stand on the courthouse steps not knowing what to say to one another. Despite having gone through an emotional afternoon together, they don't know each other and don't have much to say to one another.