12 Angry Men - Analysis

Introduction

Twelve Angry Men is a 1957 is a black and white movie, based on the play by Reginald Rose, directed by Sydney Lumet, and starring Henry Fonda and a cavalcade of other stars. The movie is all about leadership through effective communication. Indeed, many organizations use it to facilitate discussion around these issues. “Twelve Angry Men” is an interesting and exciting jury-room confrontation in which an "open and shut case" becomes strenuous as twelve strangers scuffle for answers. The trial involves a nineteen-year-old boy, who is suspect of killing his father in a late-night altercation with a knife. His fate now lies in the hands of 12 jurors, each with his own determination to solve the case and reveal the truth. As the session takes its course, evidence becomes scrutinised, tempers rise, and the jury room erupts in a shouting brawl because one such juror finds reasonable doubts in the two testimonies that were deemed credible enough to convict. In his fight for an acquittal, the singled out juror found that the testimonial evidence was not only unreliable, but the timely fashion in which both the man and the woman alleged to have seen and heard the defendant were by far insufficient. Upon reaction to his vote, the dubious jurors immediately began questioning the man, not understanding how he could possibly think that way. Nevertheless, the adamant juror held his ground and the votes were: 11 guilty, and 1 not guilty, but the decision had to be unanimous.

The Power of Communication

Arriving at a unanimous not guilty verdict does not come easily. The jury encounters many difficulties in learning to communicate and deal with each other. What seems to be a decisive guilty verdict as deliberations begin slowly becomes a questionable not sure. The movie deals with issues relating to the process of effective communication. When it comes to language and communication, the rule is that it’s not what you say, but what people hear. Words are one of...