12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1957)
"I feel sorry for you. What it must feel like to want to pull the switch. Ever since you walked into this room, you've been acting like a self-appointed public avenger. You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts."
My friend Julien once said that 12 Angry
Men would be one of the films he would use to introduce people to Black and
White, I go further. This is one of the films I would use to introduce people
to the species of man.
12 Angry Men shows, that although we can
think terrible thoughts and commit atrocious acts; from time to time one man
can step up and redeem us all. One man can challenge us all not to give into
the pressures of others, or succumb to society’s race to the middle. It shows that
if one man stands tall for honesty and justice, wonderful things can happen. In
the narrative of this film it is Juror number 8 (Fonda), in the narrative of
the world: it is Sidney Lumet.
This film is a lesson for all future
filmmakers in 3 things: How to transport a small-scale play onto the screen,
how to explore any male-to-male relationship, and how to utilise the power of
ensemble.
For a film set essentially all in one room
12 Angry Men is boldly cinematic. Lumet’s exceptional direction, combined with
the dynamic editing of Carl Lerner create and build excitement, tension,
emotion, claustrophobia, and heat the way a stage production could never
achieve. At no time does it feel that Lumet was constricted by the size of the
room, yet at no time does one escape it. The camera moves around the room the
way anyone of us would if we were there. Searching for clues, studying the
faces and body language of every man in the room, examining the evidence, the
facts, the motives, the clews in a desperate desire for truth; or the closest
we can get to truth.
I have oft remarked that one of my favorite
things about 12 Angry Men is that it covers every male-to-male relationship (and
basically every kind of man) there is. This achievement cannot not just be
credited to Lumet but to writer Reginald Rose, and to Martin Balsam, John
Fielder, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden,
Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeny, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, and Robert Webber. All
14 must have been hit by the same bolt of lightning, they work with such
combined focus and intent. Every man in this film could exist in another movie
where they were the leading protagonist, and it would be a thoroughly
fascinating study. Everyone is completely fleshed out, so that no decision
feels at odds with whom they are; no word or deed could be attributed to
anything but an organic, truthful reaction to the word or deed just
experienced. Nothing in this film exists solely to support an ‘idea’, a ‘theme’,
or a ‘device’ - everything exists to support the 12 Angry Men, and that is what
makes it one of the most authentic, truthful, intelligent, emotional, and
beautiful films ever made.
It is a treatise on life, on humanity, and
on man. Every frame, every word is worth your study - for if you were to devote
a year of your life to commit this film to memory: you would be richer for it.
It could easily be my favorite film.
No comments:
Post a Comment