12 Angry Men [DVD] [1957]

Description

Adapted from Reginald Rose's television play, this film marks the directorial debut of Sidney Lumet. At the end of a murder trial in New York City, the jurors retire to consider their verdict. The man in the dock is a young Puerto Rican accused of killing his father, and eleven of the jurors do not hesitate in finding him guilty. However, one of the jurors (Henry Fonda), reluctant to send the youngster to his death without any debate, returns a vote of not guilty. From this single event, the jurors begin to re-evaluate the case, as they look at the murder - and themselves - in a fresh light. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director (Lumet), Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material from Another Medium (Rose). Review: Once of the most important films of all time. - 12 Angry Men is as relevant now as it was in 1957. I won't spoil it because it will be treat for those who have not yet seen it. I will say, the performances from all involved are powerful yet measured and each character has their own personality that is built in very little screen time, something that eludes modern film makers. The film is presented in it's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The way it was filmed and meant to be presented. So it has black bars on the side of the screen to preserve all the picture information. For those who think this is wrong.... If the picture was formatted to fit a 16:9 (1.78:1) screen, information would be cut from the top and bottom of the screen. The black bars on the sides of a 1.66:1 aspect ratio are not covering anything up. It's simply how it was filmed. The best way to illustrate missing picture information in a film is to look at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and crop it to fit a modern TV standard. Please see the final image for an example. I opted for the older MGM Blu-ray release because the Criterion collection edition was unavailable but from what I can see, the picture quality is near identical. Also, for people who think the DVD version has a superior image, this is also wrong. There seems to be no use of DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) which dramatically softens an image, the grain structure is as it is supposed to be and stands out due to the age of the film, it's a lot sharper also. The disc has Mono DTS Master Audio tracks in English, French, Italian and German with subtitles for many languages. Oh, and it's in BLACK & WHITE! 😆 Gasp! Why hasn't it been colourised like Night of the Living Dead?! Because to add colour to a B&W film is sacrilege! Special features include; Audio commentary by film historian Drew Casper. Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Making 12 Angry Men. Inside the Jury Room. Original theatrical trailer. For the film alone it's worth it. Still number 5 in the all-time top films on IMDB! Should be 4 in my opinion because it's better than The Dark Knight. Review: The Greatest Film Ever Made - To call a film the greatest ever made is a bold statement but 12 Angry Men is perfect, in every way. This film should be a lesson to modern day film makers that you don't need CGI, mega bucks budgets, death and destruction, sex or half arsed teen gonzo antics. Goddamit you don't even need colour! Sidney Lumet makes his cinematic debut here after having worked in TV and he brings a number of TV actors with him who would go onto become big movie actors such as Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns and Martin Balsam. They dovetail seamlessly with the established stars; Henry Fonda, Lee J Cobb, E G Marshall and Ed Begley and the lesser known names Robert Webber, John Fieldler, Joseph Sweeney and George Voskovic. The story is simple and is, perhaps, just a hook on which to hang the real purpose of the movie which is has justice, natural justice, matured in post-war America to the point were all men can expect a fair trial regardless of petty, or at times hard rooted, prejudices. From the outset this wouldn't have worked had the youth on trial being a white lad rather than being Hispanic. The film builds to a satisfying climax as juror number 4 (E G Marshall), the most rational of those voting guilty, finally cracks under the weight of evidence pointing to a reasonable doubt and leaving Lee J Cobb as the lone antagonist; a scene that literally makes one forget the surroundings of the jury room and draws you in as if you were really there. Apart from the opening and ending scenes and a couple of short sequences in the rest room everything takes place in just one room. As the narrative unfolds and the sultry weather becomes more and more oppressive so the camera seems to move ever closer to the actors, looking for any sign of a falsehood trying to be disguised as surety of guilt or exposing plain bitter hatred. Having said that this is not the case for juror number 7 (Jack Warden) whose ambivalence is so shocking just because he wants to vote guilty and get the trial over quickly so he doesn't miss a baseball game thus sending a potentially innocent man to the electric chair. But as the evidence given at trial is slowly dismantled so the jurors arguments and attitudes become more divisive and one side becomes so entrenched because of their long held prejudiced views until it finally explodes in a couple of incidents involving Lee J Cobb and Ed Begley. Despite the obvious message that this film emits, it has fallen largely on deaf ears. Black prisoners in American prisons make up a fair larger proportion to their general demographic. This is a film that everyone should see; I believe it should be shown in schools as part of the National Curriculum.