“12 Angry Men,” a 1957 film directed by Sidney Lumet, is widely considered one of the best films ever made, with a 4.6/5 rating on Letterboxd, 9/10 rating on IMDB, and 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One person said, ” It has inspired many other movies.¨ and another said ¨it´s a classic.¨

Public domain photo.

Plot: 12 men are left alone in a room to decide the fate of a young boy of color who has murdered his father, they all agree that he should be sentenced to death, but one of them.

Nobody wanted to see this movie when it came out, so how could it be considered one of the best films?  Originally Henry Fonda, who would play the main character, pitched the idea to Reginald Rose to make the series into a teleplay on CBS’s show “Studio One.” Fonda also picked director Lumet because he believed he ¨had a good understanding of making films.¨ Despite not being popular, it still managed to get nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Fonda was willing to take less than half of his salary if it meant the movie would get released, his dedication wouldn´t be great financially, but his dedication would make up decades later. Since the budget for this film was fairly low, he had the idea of making the cast wear their clothes, telling them that they were the story and it would showcase the life of New York. Lumet used a special technique to show the emotion in the room called ¨Lens plot¨ where the shots in the camera are small at first and as the film progresses, get bigger. Once the ending has reached the movie, it zooms out showing the whole set. Lumet believed this would be a ¨breath of fresh air¨ for the audience after seeing a small room for 96 minutes.

Public domain photo.

The political themes and elements in this movie show how the justice system can be biased and overall unfair, showcasing that some of the men believe the boy is guilty solely because of his race (Hispanic), this can still be seen as relevant today.