The film that i would like to review today is one that came out before any of us was born. This film came out in 1957, which was nearly 64 years ago. This film is about 12 white men that make up the jury at a trial for a child of color. When they first go into the back room to discuss the verdict of the case, they first start talking about sports and their own personal lives rather than discussing the actual case.
The 18 year old child was accused for murdering his father and that is why the trial came about in the first place. The man in the eighth chair is the only one that elected and said that he wasn’t sure if the kid was guilty or not. The other 11 men were displeased because they wanted the trial to be over as soon as possible and barely listened to the trial.
The eighth man at the table brings up the child’s life and how it has been nothing but struggles and hardships. Meanwhile a few of the other man seem to judge the child by his cover, so to speak and think that he is just like the rest of the troubled children. The man in the 2nd chair brings up the fact that there was a witness but she was across the railroad tracks and claims she saw it happened when a train was passing at that time. The man in the eighth chair brings up that the only reason they think he is guilty is because he is one of “them” implying a person of color.
One of the men at the table bring up the fact that the child was from the slums and that everyone who comes from the slums is a criminal. Basically singling out a specific part of town saying that everyone born there is bad. No matter what.
One by one every man changed his mind from guilty to not guilty. All because one man believed. This film shows how 11 men racially and socially discriminated one person simply because of his color and where he grew up. I would recommend this film to anyone because it is very eye opening and keeps you on the edge of the seat for the entire trial/movie. 