Most of the time in 12 Angry Men (1957, rated “approved,” 96 minutes) the jurors aren’t angry.
They’re sullen, confused, afraid—they’re strangers in the defendant’s world. Some of them fiercely or casually “know” the slum kid is guilty of murder, and some of them know that they don’t know.
Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) asks a defiant fellow juror: “what if it was you on trial for murder?” He gets no response.
The drama in this devastatingly dramatic film is all personal—there are 12 different slowly exposed climaxes.
There are many truths in 12 Angry Men. Of course, they don’t “prove” the boy is innocent. This is not Perry Mason stuff.
12 Angry Men is about right and wrong.
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