Twelve angry Men                 

The movie is held in the New York City in a small court room where twelve men are debating on the fate of a young man who has murdered his father. The judges at first do not agree as to whether the man is guilty or innocent. Most of the Americans find it hard to accept that someone is innocent until the law proves otherwise. The film is full of various dialogues where the body language matters. The movie signifies prejudice where emotions are easily used in judging the case (Rose, 1957). The young man is not yet proved guilty thereby remaining innocent. The judges with the exception of jury 8 are in agreement that the man is guilty. The open ballot shows that jury 8 is the only one who votes negative.

The secret ballot shows that judge 9 has changed his stand and agrees with judge 8 that the case requires much discussion. Majority of the judges change their mind from the experiments performed on whether a short man can stab a short person. From the discussion they are able to tell that the man is not guilty. Judge 3 is not in support of this as he says slums people commit crimes more. The judges are guided by emotions and pride forgetting tat they are dealing with a man’s life (Rose, 1957). Some judges are hesitant to explain their votes since they are voting for personal reasons. For example judge 3 is not able to say why he thinks that the man is guilty. At the end he says that the decision is out of frustration from his bad relationship with his son. At last the jury makes a unanimous decision that the man is not guilty as a result of a lengthy discussion preferred by judge 8.

 

 

 

References

Rose R (director) (1957) 12 ANGRY MEN