Name ______Period ______Date ______
Twelve Angry Men assignment to be completed after we read the play and as we view the film
1. Do you think the elderly juror identified with the discredited witness because he too was old? Discuss.
2. Juror eight exempts himself from the second ballot. Would you have taken this risk if you were juror eight ? Explain.
3. What do you think of the doubts provided by jurors eight and five regarding the purchase and the angle of the knife? Are they as convincing as that raised about the eyesight of the old man?
4. How has the film director manipulated the mood in the jury room?
5. Compare the use of lighting in the opening scene and the scene where the weather changes from hot to rainy.
Essay question
6. 'It is the old man (juror nine) who is the real hero of the film, not juror eight.’ Write a brief essay of no more than five hundred words on the above statement. You may argue either way. Support your arguments with reference to the dialogue. Outline or concept map your thinking, write a first draft, revise and edit for a final essay draft.
zDiscussion of Twelve Angry Men with some comparison of the two film versions
Directions: Answer the questions for each segment as completely as possible, using references to the film for support. Complete the essay assignment at the finish of the unit.
At one stage, an elderly juror identifies with a discredited witness, another old man. He shifts his ground to support juror eight. At this stage, there is still real resistance to juror eight and this is where he pulls his deceit. He calls for a vote and says he will abstain. If the other eleven voted guilty he would not stand in the way of a conviction. The old man votes not guilty so that more discussion takes place.
1. Do you think the elderly juror identified with the discredited witness because he too was old? Discuss.
2. Juror eightexempts himself from the second ballot. Would you have taken this risk if you were juror eight? Explain.
Juror eight pulls another trick (or deceit) on the jurors when he asks to view the murder weapon again. The remaining jurors are all of the view that the knife was so distinctive that it the chances of another person having one and killing the father are a billion to one. Juror eight then reveals the exact same knife he bought in the neighborhood of the boy. The majority or jurors now realize the formidable opponent they have and regret allowing him latitude. Juror eleven begins to think there is a reasonable doubt.
However it is the thus far silent juror, juror five who is the next to change. Coming from a like neighborhood to the accused he argues that it would be very unlikely for the knife to have been thrust downwards when the boy was apparently expert with knives.
3. What do you think of the doubts provided by jurors eight and five regarding the purchase and the angle of the knife? Are they as convincing as that raised about the eyesight of the old man?
A sub plot, (among other sub plots concerning juror three's son) is the weather. In the original version the opening scene is of the accused facing the jurors in the courtroom. The courtroom fan is shown, so the weather is obviously hot. The boy is not sweating, but he is looking melancholy with his big brown eyes open wide at the jurors. This is his plea, silent, yet speaking volumes. The use of lighting and cinematography in this dark courtroom drama is stunning. The boy does not move, but we are informed of a lengthening in the time frame by the shades becoming increasingly dark across the boys face.
The shot is a precursor for a later scene two thirds of the way through the movie. The vote is in balance and the tension is at its peak. It is then that the set goes almost pitch dark. This is the same shade as used on the boy in the courtroom, except now we know why it was used. The weather breaks and the rains come, the tension as well as the heat is relieved by this force of nature. The jurors must co-operate in closing the windows and it is obvious that the fate of the boy is decided.
4. How has the film director manipulated the mood in the jury room?
5. Compare the use of lighting in the opening scene and the scene where the weather changes from hot to rainy.
Only jurors three and four stand in juror eight’s way. Ten is dispatched as a racist and twelve is a vacillator. However, the literal odds are not representative of the actual odds against our hero. Before Fonda lay the brilliance of juror four and the naked aggression of three. Three and four restate their case for conviction, four making the telling point about the eye-witness across the railway track. Juror four regrets his alliance with juror three even more when the latter says you can throw out all the other evidence and just concentrate on the woman's. This is his fatal mistake.
It is at this stage that the cinematography, which has been as important as the screenplay in creating tension and character development, comes into its own. Juror four has all but convinced some jurors back into his camp. The lady saw the kid do it. This is direct irrefutable evidence. Then he, in one of his few movements takes off his glasses and rubs his nose.
No single dialogue sequence in the movie is a long shot. Close ups and mid shots predominate as camera shots change within discourses. This is the basic difference between the two versions, the original heightens tension and develops the plot via slick editing and direction, the remake relies on dialogue alone. For example, in the original, though old, the juror has almost perfect skin when shown ultra close up. In the remake he is old and wrinkled and there the point is lost.
When the old man reveals that the lady had the same marks on her nose as has the bespectacled juror three, the contrast between his clear skin is obvious. Now only juror three remains. Illusions to his antipathy toward youth have been made earlier when he says that kids today have no respect and that he has not seen his son for over a decade. Every juror has a reasonable doubt except him and juror eight demands that he restate his reasons.
6. 'It is the old man (juror nine) who is the real hero of the film, not juror eight. Write a brief essay of no more than five hundred words on the above statement. You may argue either way. Support your arguments with reference to the dialogue.