12 Angry Men (50th Anniversary Edition)
Even without having watched or read anything about the movie I knew the movie would focus around a jury of men trying to decide the fate of another man. I can't quite place it, but I feel as though I've seen the movie before not in it's entirety but maybe in an episode of The Simpsons.
After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)
I was right, there was an episode of The Simpsons that features a similar plot to that of 12 Angry Men, titled The Boy Who Knew Too Much which aired in 1994 and featured Homer as a juror who's only interest is staying in a posh hotel as long as possible. The movie 12 Angry Men is a little different then the episode of The Simpsons, but I have to completely agree with the American Film Institute it was one of the best films in the 'Court Room' genera.
This is one of the instances where I think even the smallest details matter during production. All twelve actors, and members of a crew were cramped into a small room for hours at a time, and the only thing that really keeps crew moral up is a good craft service. The movie was shot on a soundstage and a backdrop was used to create the atmosphere outside of the jury room, this was a common practice for movies at the time. All twelve members of the jury were subjected to two weeks of rehearsals where they had been asked to continuously run lines, none of which were filmed. This was intentionally done in order to better create the element of claustrophobia. It paid off during production though, the film wrapped in as little as twenty-one days which is practically unheard of. To further convey the claustrophobia aspect of the story focal lengths and camera placements were manipulated. I don't typically get too involved in the technical aspect of movies, because I think it's kind of boring sometimes. I only bring it up, because it's was obvious to me when I was watching the movie.
Final thoughts: I knew early on, because I think it was kind of obvious that throughout the movie more men would slowly start to question more of the evidence and begin to question rather or not than man was guilty of murdering his father. Although I know the movie isn't about finding out who committed the crime, I would have been curious to have found out about what happened outside of the courtroom afterwards. If the son didn't commit the crime, I want to know who did. The movie really makes you think about the people who serve on juries during a murder case. You hope you find someone who is willing to question everything and not take things solely at face value.
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