12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Reginald Rose.

I know I have seen this movie before, I am just not sure where or why. Maybe a midday movie when I was home crook about 10 years ago. Who knows? Anyway, this is a pretty good movie. Now that I have seen it, I have no need to see it again or add it to the collection, but it is an example of a tightly constructed, well told story.

Nearly all the action and almost every shot is placed inside the jury room. That is probably the greatest thing about this film – the way the director holds the interest of the audience, whilst confined to only one set/room (must have been great for the budget!). I have seen two other films which attempted similar things – Hitchcock’s Rope and Linklater’s Tape. Oh and for that matter I guess Rear Window is basically the same too. Rope was an experiment in creating a film in the one room, except I think it’s actually filmed in a few rooms, but in the same apartment (all rooms opening into each other). A while ago I read that Hitchcock constructed the film as 9 ten minute shots, creating a 90min film. Since reading this I have not gone back to view it again, so I guess that is a film I will have to hit up soon because I like the concept. Anyway from memory it wasn’t one of Hitchcock’s best, but it wasn’t bad either. As for Tape, I didn’t mind it but it was nothing great. The point is – I think 12 Angry Men is the most successful of all of these films in holding the audience’s attention within the one room/environment.

Through varying the shot sizes and length of shots, Lumet is able to create tension and help mold the ebb and flow of the conversation. It’s a greatly choreographed film, in one sense, because it is basically through the direction and the editing that the film is able to capture the audience for 90mins. The actual story of the murder is not particularly interesting, I mean it’s interesting to see how the story unfolds, but the details are not exactly gripping. It’s through the use of different elements of composition that the director is able to hold our attention.

The acting is good, particularly Henry Fonda in the lead role. It is a bit of the old classic style of acting though – I can’t really work out what it is, just sort of stiffer I guess. Character wise the film is pretty strong – all twelve men are different types of people, and whilst I wouldn’t say that any of them are really stereotypes, this is a drama so some aspects of their personalities are exaggerated. As a result the film presents an interesting look at the psychology of humans.