“12 Angry Men” is the classic portrayal of a jury’s heated deliberation at the conclusion of a murder trial. The film is a masterpiece of minimal scope, taking place almost entirely in one room and with 12 nameless characters. With an opening vote of 11 to 1 in favor of declaring guilt, Juror 8 (played by Henry Fonda) pleads his doubt to the room. From this point on, the man struggles to build consensus among competing personalities, biases, and baggage.
This film is both small and yet ambitious. Though starting with a simple premise, 12 fully formed characters emerge (minus names), complete with their own developed backstories and competing motivations. The conversation that ensued between them was dramatic, thrilling, and weaved naturally back and forth between contrasting ideas like a tennis match. Touching on poverty, ethnicity, and societal violence, this film remains relevant 61 years later. In fact, the most powerful moment for me was the united and defiant stand of each juror when Juror 10 tore into a prejudice rant. No good people on both sides, here.
While I feared that the film’s one room set would plague the flick with the lack of dimensionality I typically sense from stage play adaptations, it didn’t. This is thanks in tremendous part to Boris Kaufman’s cinematography. The way the camera moved purposefully throughout the room, at times portraying distance and at times emphasizing claustrophobic closeness was brilliant. It was a first rate example of what can be accomplished in this medium, even in less showy or effects-driven movies.
I adore that (according to Wikipedia) Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor nostalgically refers to this film as an influence on her decision to pursue law. I also love that she instructs juries to not follow Fonda’s example, pointing out that his outside research, assumptions, and speculation is cause for a mistrial. LOL. But, I am still endeared to his depiction of how much courage, grit, and actual sweat that it sometimes takes to change another person's mind. It’s a brilliant example and one which I hope to reflect on as this tumultuous and divisive year continues. Great movie.