**Spoiler Alert!! If you have not watched the movie, it might reveal parts of the story!
There are a few movies that one watches, watches again and yet desires to watch it some other time again.
This is a movie essentially about a jury trying to decide if a boy is guilty of murder or not. It is a movie that makes me realize how easy it is to pass judgment. The movie is shot in a single room for most parts, is not so much about motion as it is about character building. Directors always have a challenge in condensing an entire story into 120 minutes of screen time. They take years to write a script build a character in their head and yet in that short span they have to convey it all. Few people do a fabulous job of it and this is a movie where the director has managed to do it with amazing finesse!
The movie starts off with one jury member disagreeing at the outset only because he believes death should not be decided without dialogue. He is not convinced and tries to keep a conversation going. Over time individuals who come with their own baggages start to see facts and doubt. The movie moves on to showcasing how individuals change their perception, let go off their personal biases and change their points of view.
It is not important how the movie ends, really! What was important was to watch how most of us in majority choose to agree. Sometimes because it is easy, sometimes because we do not want to put much thought. Sometimes because we love to judge, sometimes because it feels better to be in a camp with more people by your side. Maybe the boy eventually did kill his dad or maybe he did not. 12 men could have put him up on slaughter or salvaged his life and given him a chance.
I came to realize that being a judge after all is not very easy just as it is never easy being a doctor. However law and facts can be twisted more than scientific facts and emotion. I am judgmental even though I try hard not to be. Every single time I know my judgement of people and situations is driven by that moment, my past or my experiences. I rarely judge merely based on facts. I am sure a jury is equally challenged as I am to let go off all these influences when calling the shots.
The hindi version of this movie - Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is also well made and has brilliant actors from the TV world. This movie is also a case study taught in B schools .
Why did I bring this movie up today? I appreciate good story telling, good stories and wish some day I can be less judgmental than I am. I have in the recent past met so many of my friends from a very long time ago. 14 years, 10 years, 6 years, few months. What has been interesting is to realize how not judging really makes it easy and difficult. After all you are left with a context from the past and yet people have evolved over time. People change, we change and so does our judgment!
Do watch these movies if you like drama and theater! They are really worth their time.
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