Tuesday, August 12, 2008

12 angry men, a classic

Last night I stumbled upon this monochrome movie made in 1957, 12 angry men. It's an extremely gripping and intelligent drama that unfolds on the sets of a jurisdiction to decide on the conviction of an 18 year old slum dweller for supposedly stabbing his father four inches into his chest.

The entire movie takes place in the jury discussion room other than a few frames in the washroom and at the stairs outside. If you ask me the characters, sorry, there's literally no name calling in the whole movie. Though just two of the jury members save to exchange their names right at the death of this drama. Not realizing the lack of character names is probably a testimony to the fact that audience was truly occupied in this, one of the most compelling of dramas.

The subtle and "It's possible" Henry Fonda plays one of the jury member, wants to be convinced of anything and everything about a decision before its made. He sets the tone for the rest of jury in realizing lack of convincing evidence amidst great stubbornness from the other few jury members, rude ones. The murder scenario gets discussed in length no member expected it to, hurting a few egos much to their dislike till they succumb to admit it's not convincing enough about what was though to be an open and shut case. The academic votes taken at the beginning tilts from 11-1 to 0-12. It's a must watch!!

1 comment:

Varun Yagain said...

You'll be interested to know this movie's used as a case study in a large number of B-Schools to learn the process of decision making.

A gripping drama indeed.