Review of 12 Angry Men (1957) by Liam C — 12 Nov 2014

What an excellent debut for a director and a showcase for what was to come next, 12 Angry Men is an excellent, immersive drama that takes place in just one room.

Unlike how the case plays out in the film, this review is going to be very open and shut. I have very few things to say besides I loved it. The set up for the film is unique, instead of showing us the trial and having some sort of background of what's going on, we start the film right at the end of the trial and we have to come to our own opinions from an unbiased standpoint from we hear from the others. We also learn about all the characters through the things they say and how they act, by the end we know all the 12 men and they are all memorable without ever knowing their names.

The casting in the film is absolutely amazing and every actor grabs your attention and you hang on every word, seeing how one man slowly but surely convincing everyone in the room that things aren't what they seem is some of the best writing in history. The film touches on a lot of subjects, mostly standing up for what you believe in and not succumbing to peer pressure but others include prejudice, stereotypes, ignorance and more, the overall experience is inspirational and it also features some jaw dropping moments. It shows the workings of a jury and how much they sometimes have to go through to come to definitive answer and also that just because someone looks guilty doesn't mean that they are. The film also has some very dark humor and it fits well, it alleviates some of the tension. The film also has subtle uses of music and it just fades in and out at key moments and it works fantastically.

The cinematography is also very important, it's almost like another character, it starts out very far away with a wide angle lenses but as the tension rises and more details are learnt it closes in on the cast and drops below eye level and you feel as if you are in the room with them, it is very effective.

If I had to find any negative at all its that one of the revelations about the case that is revealed seems a bit coincidental, the main one that came to mind to even make me think about this is the thing about the eyeglasses leaving the mark in the woman's face, if that hadn't have been brought up some would have still said guilty but, of course, they could have written something else if that was the case. I understand it's a weak complaint but hey I'm just nitpicking at this point to find ANY complaint.

This is a very important film that everyone should see, it has very important points to make and is a very powerful film. The biggest compliment anyone can give a film is that I never checked my watch and I didn't look at how much time was left on the film once, I was so invested in what was going on that it didn't matter how much time went by and that's impressive. 12 Angry Men is a masterpiece of cinema that sadly was ignored by many upon first release and ignored of many of the awards it deserved, it's an important film with some very important things to say. If you're going to be going into a courtroom in the future, you should watch this, it'll really open your eyes and change your way of thinking. The film leaves a huge impact after it's all said and done and I wanted to watch it again as soon as it finished. It is essential viewing.