[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Twelve Angry Men. Sidney Lumet. 1957.

During a blazing hot day in New York City, the twelve jurors of a seemingly open and shut murder case must reach a conclusion when one of their number refuses to go along with a guilty verdict.
Sidney Lumets riveting drama is often written up as being a courtroom drama, this isn't really accurate in my mind as only a few seconds at the start of the film take place in the courtroom. The remaining 90 or so minutes take place entirely in a single room while the frustrated jurors, all men, the twelve angry men of the title deliberate. Henry Fonda in a brilliant and measured performance is the sole juror, Juror No.8 who insists the men look into matters further. The other eleven all have varying reasons from prejudice, narrow mindedness to one guy who simply doesn't care and wants to get to baseball game and will go with whichever opinion gets him out of there the quickest.
What ensues feels more like a whodunnit as Fondas character gradually digs deeper into the evidence presented. Persuading each of the men to examine if they're really willing to send a boy to his death in the name of peer pressure or to simply catch a ball game.
First time watch for me this classic, and I can see easily why it's held in high regard.
The camerawork in the confines of a single room is wonderful, really evoking the sense of claustrophobic tension. Reading through trivia on imdb there's a mention that Henry Fonda complained that the NYC backdrops through the jury room windows looked rubbish and fake. They do, however even before I'd read this bit of trivia I was thinking this actually worked well, heightening even more the sense of isolation, that until these men reach their conclusion the outside world may as well not be real.
I'll definitely be watching this brilliant film again.

It's a crying shame that films like this don't get the bells and whistles collectors edition treatment that stuff like House on the Edge of the Park or Deadly Games gets.