The Russian version of “12 Angry Men” or simply called “12” was a very well done movie and appeared to be better than the original in English. The fact that this movie was meant to be more in real time made it more interesting, and the actors seemed to be much more powerful; they appeared to be more in character than the English film. The director was even one of the stars, which would have made his criticism even stronger, requiring more perfection.
While of these aspects make the film worthwhile and better than the original, there was something even more beneficial to the movie: a background of the accused murderer was presented. In works of cinema or theatre, an aside is when we as an audience are shown something that the other characters in the movie are not.
The English version does not have these asides, and we therefore feel no connection to the boy. The Russian film does a wonderful job in showing the life of the young man, from child to where he is now. These asides cause an emotional connection to the point where we are rooting for the boy, and give us more of his view on life. The asides also help cast away the doubt of the innocence of the young man, and give one more comfort in the end in knowing the correct conclusion was reached.
From the asides, we see that the life of the boy was not an easy one. We see how he was raised, and how he loved his family. We see the relationship with other people, we see it with his culture (with his knife dance as a child, and later in the jail cell), and we also see how his spirits were not lowered while in jail, causing us to see his clean conscious. Not many murderers would be dancing in their jail cells while waiting for a jury to decide their fate. We learn of his love for the old way of life, and the respect for the new way after his birth parents’ death.
The asides are a wonderful thing in this movie, and help raise it up to another level. There is no doubt that the director knew how to capture our emotions, and cause a greater love and concern for the boy. Coincidentally enough, it is the director’s character that shows the most love and concern for the boy after the movie. All pointing towards the connection we are meant to have with him too
Excellent analysis, Skyler. I have not seen the "original" movie, but with my experiences in theater, I am very familiar with the importance of asides.
ReplyDeleteI think your focus on that element of performance art provided us with a unique perspective that we who have not seen "Twelve Angry Men" would not have access to.
Comparing and contrasting the two films brought out elements that did not initially draw my attention, in terms of mechanisms of cinematic rhetoric .
Beautiful paper. The only thing that got me was that your introductory sentence doesn't really have to do with the rest of our paper. You might want to mention the importance of the boy and the asides in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you compared this version with the original english.
ReplyDeleteI loved the comparison. I thought the argument was direct and easy to understand. The last paragraph could be improved I think to have a stronger conclusion. I loved the first 2 sentences as part of the conclusion; I also loved the last 2 sentences, but maybe you could apply it a tiny bit more to the usage of asides instead of the director's character and his attitude.
ReplyDeleteI always have had issues with the beginning and ending of my papers, so thank you for the two comments on that.
ReplyDeleteI liked the compare and contrast with the original film. I haven't seen it either.
ReplyDeleteKudos Skyler! Just curious, who was the director acting out in 12!? This line, "Not many murderers would be dancing in their jail cells while waiting for a jury to decide their fate." made me smile :) I have one suggestion. It's not serious. It seemed like you used the word "asides" a lot.
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