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Storyline
12 Angry Men is the 1957 film debut for director Sidney Lumet. An interpretion from a Broadway show, this film is about 12 jurors who must decide whether an 18-year-old is guilty of killing his father. |
Backdrops
The Director
 Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet (June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his name. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982). He did not win an individual Academy Award, although he did receive an Academy Honorary Award and 14 of his films were nominated for various Oscars, such as Network, which was nominated for 10, winning 4.
The Encyclopedia of Hollywood states that Lumet was one of the most prolific directors of the modern era, making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. He was noted by Turner Classic Movies for his "strong direction of actors", "vigorous storytelling" and the "social realism" in his best work. Film critic Roger Ebert described him as having been "one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors." Lumet was also known as an "actor's director," having worked with the best of them during his career, probably more than "any other director."
Lumet began his career as an Off-Broadway director, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie was typical of his best work: a well-acted, tightly written, deeply considered "problem picture," 12 Angry Men (1957). From that point on Lumet divided his energies among other idealistic problem pictures along with literate adaptations of plays and novels, big stylish pictures, New York-based black comedies, and realistic crime dramas, including Serpico and Prince of the City. As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he was also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies. In 2005, Lumet received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his "brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture." Two years later, he concluded his career with the acclaimed drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Sidney Lumet, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
User Reviews
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A thought provoking film
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Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!A young man (John Savoca), who is a minority, is on trial for the murder of his father, which he says he didn't commit. Both sides have presented their cases, and now it's in the hands of the jury of his peers.
Each men believe that the boy, who has a criminal record, is guilty. However, one man of the jury, known only as "Juror #8" (Henry Fonda, who also served as the movie's producer) believes the boy is possibly not guilty. Now, he must convince the others of the jury that there is reasonable doubt in the boy's guilt.
One of the first things that you will notice is that there are only three sets in this film. Two of which, the courtroom and the jury room bathroom, are only seen briefly. The other room is a cramped jury room which appears to be a few flights up because of the obvious matte painting outside the room windows. Because of the use of a small, rectangular set like the Jury Room, this pretty much hampers the camera angles. It's pretty obvious that the walls, and items in the room, had to be moved around for some camera angles.
The director did do a good job with the camera angles. The director was able to come up with some angles to aid in what little drama there is in the movie.
Each of the performers were really good in their roles, possibly due to rehearsing for two weeks prior to the start of filming. It is hard to tell which of the cast members really stand out from the rest, but each have their moments where they do. I guess you could say Fonda does, mostly because he has to play the one juror who is uncertain of the guilt or innocense of the defendant. Jack Klugman was a bit disappointing, in my opinion, but he did have his moments.
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reviewed by The_MOW (Filmaster.com) on the 28th of April 2011
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Brilliant example of how sometimes the best direction involves stepping out of the way to let the story and the actors unveil themselves, with only the most miminal editorial intervention.