Goran Kalim

MY FAVORITE MOVIE 12 Angry Man

First of all, i must say that is really hard for me to pick just one favorite movie. But for this
assignment i choose movie 12 Angry Men by director Sidney Lumet from 1957 with Henry
Fonda in leading role. One of many reasons reasons why i choose this movie is beacuse i can
place him at least among my top 5 favorites movies of all time. The bigest reason is the story in
movie, which is so simply but briliant with excellent message. The story is about 12-man jury
and they are sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old man
accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death
sentence. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty, but only one juror casts a not guilty vote.
At the beginning of the move it seems that the main reason why eleven jurors vote immediately
guilty is that the defendant has a weak alibi. The knife he claimed to have lost is found at the
murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing
the scene. On the other hand, the reason why only one juror voted not guilty is main question in
this movie: But, what if (we are wrong)? He thinks that the suspect dont deserves to be sent to
death sentence without at least talking about it first. So his vote no was more so for the sake of
discussion. After all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is
guilty. As the story unfold, it becomes more and more obvious that the behind the eleven votes
guilty is basically because of jurors' complex personalities, which range from wise, bright and
empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless also full of preconceptions, backgrounds and
interactions in their personal life. During the movie, trough the discussion about evidences and
crime scene, one by one juror changes their mind, until all of them changed vote to note guilty
and saved kids life. In the end, the last reason why I choose this movie for this assignment is that
this movie has learned me a important lesson for any part of my life; Any time when i think that i
know something or have some prejudice about someone or something i should ask my self: But,
what if...?