12 angry men

I am no film critic. Yet felt compelled to write on this movie that so beautifully portrayed the different facets of human nature. This movie captured my undivided hard to get attention just with its dialogues, and simplicity of characters we all could meet in our travel on the metro or the bus. The entire movie is set inside one room. The entire cast remains in the same costume throughout the movie. The movie is about the discussions of the jury members in a case involving an 18 year old boy, living in the slum with a father who repeatedly beats him since his childhood. The boy now has been accused of killing his father with a knife. The movie starts with 11 out of 12 jury members convinced that the boy is guilty and just one member not certain. As the movie unfolds, we see how the life of that young man is debated, how prejudice and notions in the society cement shaky evidences, how the same thing is seen differently by different people, how the connections are drawn and evidence analyzed for validity in the context of human tendencies - desire to be known, desire to look good. The movie ends with all 12 convinced that the there is no sufficient evidence and hence not guilt. The efforts taken by the lead in trying to see the facts with a plain glass, trying to make them see more than what they want to see are terrific. He starts off with a possibility that the evidence could be shaky and refuses to send the boy to the death chamber until he is proved beyond doubt. He refuses until all doubts are cleared and in the attempt by others to clear that in him, they step on information that casts a doubt, a second thought, in their own hasty conclusion. The most important thing I got out of this movie was how easy it is to judge someone based on what we typically associate someone to. This movie tears that apart and proves how dear it could have proved on that young man, if not for the determination of one man who decided to stick to his ground. Truly a wonderful movie.

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