Top 10 courtroom dramas
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12 Angry Men (1957):
12 Angry Men is the only film on my top ten that focuses almost entirely on the jury – taking place after the trial of a Hispanic teenager who is accused of murdering his father. Whilst deliberating the fate of the boy the various individual views of the jurors become apparent.
Combining racial prejudice and a fear of youth, to name but a few, the audience ponders whether a verdict will be reached whilst the narrative unfolds. With a superb cast of actors, each performance is worthy of it's own merit, a lesson in losing yourself in a role.
Henry Fonda as the juror who does not see the case as a simply being open and shut, is his usual pillar of moral virtue. Ed Begley as the juror consumed with racist prejudice is simultaneously representative of popular opinion at the time of production and the threat that people with such views pose to cases like these.
12 Angry Men gets the number four spot for it's excellent portrayal of the individual viewpoints of a jury and for it's focus on the entity that is often only important at the conclusion of a film. For anybody who has actually performed jury duty, I'm positive that this case, as morbid as it might sound, is one that you kind of hope to be involved in deliberating.
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