Twelve Angry Men

Twelve Angry Men (1957) directed by Sydney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon) was the story of a Jury sweating out a the decision of whether or not they should send the accused an 18 year old boy to the electric chair. With the evidence given every one is sure the boy is guilty except one man in shinning white suit, Henry Fonda. Fonda has doubts on whether the evidence is enough, he manages to gradually convince the angry, impatient crowd. The whole entire film is set in one Juror room on the hottest day of the year with one or two exterior shots.

I have watched this film before, I genuinely think this is a classic. The performances by each individual character were realistic and three dimensional, each one of them having a story behind their faces. The feud through out the film between Henry Fonda and Lee J Cobb's character was like a guitar string being tightened and waiting to snap. The emotions of anger, justice, empowerment and opinions flowed out of this tense and gripping drama.

There were a use of a range of lenses to compress and oppress the character's actions and emotions in each scene. There was clever sound design toward the end when tensions are rocketing the noise of a storm is brewing outside, torrential rain is heard adding to the atmosphere.

I believe you have to be in the right mood to watch it, I wouldn't say it was visually entertaining but the character development and their decisions make it worth watching.