Monday, October 29, 2007

12 Angry Men

I don't know why but I have this fetish for movies entirely, or at least mostly, shot in one place. Like Reservoir Dogs, which was largely based in a warehouse, Phone Booth and Dog Day Afternoon (another Lumet movie). These movies stand out because of their brilliant direction, acting and screenplay. It's pure cinema - no action sequences, no dreams, no beautiful locations, no frills - just pure brilliance.
The reason why I'm mentioning it here is because I just saw another movie of the kind. The movie in question is 12 Angry Men starring Henry Fonda and directed by Sidney Lumet. The plot is simple - it's about a jury reaching a conclusion in a case of murder. Everything is kept simple - the entire movie (except for 3 minutes) is shot inside a Jury Room in a courthouse. Even the characters have no names and are called by their numbers. The movie has a great pace and is never dull. The manner in which the jury members turn, one by one, is shown brilliantly. No wonder it's ranked as high as 13 on IMDB's all time list.
It's a pity there are very few (if any) such Hindi movies and also few recent Hollywood movies of the kind. So until the next one comes along, watch 12 Angry Men, you won't regret it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

See the Hindi adaptation "Ek Ruka Hua Faisala". It is as good as "12 Angry Men", if not better.
You will love it more if you are a fan of the early 80's 'art wave' cinema.