Everyone should watch this film !

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2018)

"12 Angry Men" may be over 60 years old and may be in black and white, but it's nonetheless one of the greatest films ever made.
Virtually the entire film takes place in the claustrophic atmosphere of a jury room, with 12 men, no women, adjudicating on the guilt or otherwise of a friendless Puerto Rican boy accused of murdering his abusive father. There are no names, not even for the jurors whose only identification is by numbers while the key witnesse to the supposed murder are referred to only as 'the old man' and 'the woman'. Apart from Henry Fonda, the cast is made up of actors who were never quite 'top names' and this adds to the tension as debate ensues.
With only one true star, the rest of the jury are exactly what they should be - a disparate group with different backgrounds, experiences, prejudices and bigotries which quickly become apparent as Fonda raises questions about the prosecution's seeemingly strong case. One by one, the questions cause doubts to arise in the minds of those initially certain of the boy's guilt. Their own varied experiences contribute to the gradual realisation that perhaps the case against the boy is not so strong, then that it's debatable and, finally, that it's full of holes. Close up shots of individual jurors as they make their cases for a guilty verdict or come to realise that there is more to the case than they thought show the true anguish of their situation..
The whole effect is to create a claustrophic yet magnificent spectacle. Superb dialogue, brilliant performances and direction, this is a sensational film. After watching it for the umpteenth time, I still find it gripping and compelling, one of the few films that I really can watch over and over again. 10 out of 10 ? Surely this is an 11.