101 Movies: 12 Angry Men (1957)
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12 Angry Men (1957)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Adapted from and written for the screen by Reginald Rose?
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This is a 90-minute film where 12 people sit in one room, on one table, and talk <> this is a school of film, a school of sociology, and a school of top-notch visual storytelling.?
12 Angry Men is a courthouse drama set in a courtroom at the end of a trial of an 18-year old boy accused of stabbing his father to death. A jury of 12 men has to deliberate and submit a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty". Will an innocent boy be sent to the electric chair? Or will a guilty young man be spared??
Calling 12 Angry Men a masterpiece would be an understatement. This is the closest cinema has gotten to perfection. This is a cinematic triumph in every sense of the word.?
12 Angry Men is a film about reasonable doubt, integrity, objectivity and the lack thereof, prejudice, racism, judgment, justice and the value of human life in the legal system.
Sidney Lumet in his directorial debut crafts every aspect of filmmaking magic in this suspenseful, claustrophobic one-location motion picture. From the exposition and composition, blocking and staging, the camera work, to the mise-en-scène and editing.?
Every single one of the 12 characters, led by Henry Fonda, is brilliantly written to add a unique element to the narrative of the story. There's the right-minded protagonist and there's the sadistic antagonist in between which we are conflicted.?
12 Angry Men is a compelling, timeless work of cinematic art. A fine example of what cinema should be.?
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Available to watch on Google Play, Apple TV, The Criterion Collection, and on Amazon Prime Video?