For the first article I write I really was torn between several movies, all of which I love and have seen at least a dozen times and all are considered ever lasting classics of the industry.
But I have to admit that I chose 12 Angry men to be my first just as a simple tribute, a gesture from an insignificant fan to a legend whose name will always be remembered and whose work will be idolised by everyone ever hoping to be something in the movie world. I'm talking of course about Sidney Lumet who passed away just a few days ago.
That movie is among the few that shatter the myth that a movie has to be expensive and visually impressive in order to be a success, we're talking about a movie that takes place in a single room with a dozen people talking for two hours, but in those two hours you're taken into a wild journey of conflicting emotions and there are quite a few gasps involved.
It starts really simple, it's a courthouse, the camera takes a tour around the building until it reaches a specific courtroom where a judge is giving his final remarks to the jury that this is a murder case, and that in their hands lies the fate of a young boy who'll either get executed for murdering his father, or will walk away free as a bird. He reminds them that they can only vote unanimously yes or no, there can't be anything else except complete consensus on either the boy's guilty or not guilty. That is when we move to the room where we shall remain for the rest of the movie.
The jurors are in the room, they start shaking hands, makin small talk, just breaking the ice. One of the things that I really like is that there are no names used at all in that movie, not one single name whether it's for a juror or even the defendant, we find out a couple of names in the final few seconds of the movie, but it doesn't really matter, does it??
Anyway, they start by reviewing the case facts, and to all of them it seems like what's called "An open and shut case". meaning that all the facts are clear and that there's little room for debate or any dispute of the facts.
That's when Juror # 8 (Played by the legendary Henry Fonda) starts to talk, all of them are in a hurry to vote guilty and get out, there's a man who wants to get back to his family, another who has tickets to a ball game and they're all ready to vote and eager to go.
He calmly states his opinion that he honestly doesn't know whether the boy's guilty or not, and he's not willing to send a young boy to his death that easily. And that's when the movie really starts to heat up.
I won't give any more away, but as the debate heats up, you'll find that each juror is judging the boy not based on the facts of the case, but rather on his own view of life, youth, and parenthood. The debate keeps going on in that way as juror # 8 keeps gaining votes, losing them again, and so on.
The movie ends, of course, in one of two ways, and I won't say which. I'd rather you watch it and see for yourselves. But it is a movie that will blow your mind and I hope will give you a new perspective on movies.
The movie of course is starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, and Jack Warden. All real heavyweight actors and they will amaze you with their performance. It was nominated for 3 Oscars and is ranked 7th on the imdb Top 250 movie list.
Here's the link for the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050083/
I hope you enjoyed my blabbering and until next time.
A.G
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