Thriller

12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

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Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb): “Everything-*every single thing* that took place n that courtroom, but I mean everything- says he’s guilty. What d’ya think, I’m an idiot or something?”

Sidney Lumet directs this morality tale, set primarily in a small room where the 12 members of a jury convene to decide whether a young Spanish/American man is guilty of murder or not.

Filled with fantastic character actors, this film asks questions about preconceptions and prejudices. When you look at any crime you should take the immediate facts and use them as the foundation as you try to fully decipher of the situation.

The key here is the questions asked, which Juror #7 (Henry Fonda) does of his fellow jurors. No juror has a name here, it doesn’t matter, each representing an aspect of humanity. It’s complicated and looks at the accused through a microscope allows a deeper, fuller version of the truth.

The acting is fantastic, filled with brilliant performances from everyone. The jurors are: Martin Balsam, John Fielder, Lee J Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec and Robert Webber, each of them infusing their characters with three dimensions and truth. The script is lean and each of the arguments is mined to the fullest.

Fonda plays the dissenting voice, all the others think the young boy is guilty and he proceeds to challenge his fellow jurors views.

This is a film that will make you think, question your own conclusions, entertain and take you on a roller-coaster ride. No special effects, set in one room, the drama comes out of the conflicts or clashes that the characters find themselves in with each other. These true human dynamics make for the best kind of stories.

This film, if viewed with openness can shake you out of your own prejudiced prism and leads you in the direction of empathy, understanding and compassion. Judge not lest ye be judged.

Reasonable doubt.

So many things have already been written and said about this classic film from the ‘50’s, it works everytime you see it and benefits from multiple viewings.

Do yourself a favour, if you haven’t seen it before or it’s been a long time since you last saw it, find it and watch this classic again.

It is a important today as it was in 1957.

5/5

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FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE-‘Per Qualche Dollaro in Più’ (1965)

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“Alive or dead. It’s your choice.”

The second in Sergio Leone’s classic Man With No Name Trilogy, which gave rise to and helped popularise the spaghetti western

This is a classic for sure, Leone shows his immense talent by adding onto the world he created with A Fistful of Dollars. Eastwood plays a bounty hunter who targets homicidal bandit, Indio (played by the brilliant Gian Maria Volante) and finds that he has some competition from another bounty killer, Col Douglas Mortimer (played by the master of the look, Lee Van Cleef).

The violence is quick, shocking and effective, all mood and mise en scene creatively realized. The music by the maestro, Ennio Morricone is just as important; massively influential, it helps create the ambience of the world, all danger and tension.

Support comes in the shape of the famously erratic actor, Klaus Kinski, who commits to his role of the hunchback in a way supporting actors rarely get the chance to (or don’t dare to) nowadays, you could see he was a talent who stands out as a member of Indio’s gang and gets some classic scenes involving the lighting of a match.

There is a scene early on where Eastwood is seeking some information from an old man in bed and it’s clear he is enjoying the performance of this quirky actor, Eastwood smiling throughout the scene which is a pleasant break from the usual cool, show no emotion acting he gives in the rest of the film. It’s a funny scene made brilliant by the Old Prophet, who is played by Austrian character actor, Josef Eggers. He also appeared in A Fistful of Dollars as the undertaker, Piripero-“My mistake. Four coffins…” This was his last film before he passed away a year later. A fine swansong.

Van Cleef is made for his role; he is just as influential as Eastwood when it comes to the style of acting needed for this kind of film. It’s all in the eyes and he has killer ones. Leone paints the screen with beautiful shots that immerse you into this wild west world.

The title “The Man with No Name trilogy” is not quite accurate; he is called ‘Joe’ in A Fistful of Dollars, ‘Manco’ in this one and ‘Blondie’ in The Good The Bad and the Ugly. Manco means ‘one-armed’ in Spanish and here Eastwood does everything with his left hand bar shooting.

The musician J Saul Kane AKA Depth Charge made this tune in 1994 called Bounty Killer containing several quotes from this film:

 

Much has been said of the influences of these films, the looks, the silences, the music, the shots and cinematography, the tension and I could go on. All are a joy to behold.
For a slice of classic western, this is one to see.

4/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE