12 Angry Men - Movie and Play
12 Angry Men - Movie and PlayThis essay will compare & contrast the protagonist /
antagonist's relationship with each other and the other jurors in the
play and in the movie versions of Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men. There
aren't any changes made to the key part of the story but yet the
minor changes made in making the movie adaptation produce a different
picture than what one imagines when reading the drama in the form of
a play.
First off, the settings in the movie are a great deal more
fleshed out. In the play, the scene begins with the jurors regarding
the judge's final statements concerning the case in the courtroom and
then walking out into the jury room. In the movie, the audience is
placed in the role of the invisible casual observer, who for perhaps
the first 5 minutes of the movie, walks throughout the court building
passing other court rooms, lawyers, defendants, security officers,
elevators, etc. Not able to remember much about this particular part
of the movie, I believe this introductory scene's purpose was to
either enhanced the realism of the setting by emphasizing the court
building's efficient, business like manner or to provide a timeslot
in which to roll the credits for producer, director, stars, etc. The
settings aren't only built upon through use of scenery and extras in
the movie. Invisible and distant in the play, we see in the movie the
judge, bailiff, those witnessing the trial and most importantly of
all- the defendant. This is an important change because in the play,
we are free to come up with our own unbiased conclusions as to the
nature and identity of the defendant, whom we only know to a be a 19
year boy from the slums. Seeing his haggard and worn face in the
movie changes all of that, yet for better or worse, it engages the
audience deeper into the trial as they surely will sympathize with
him and can gain some insight into why, later, Juror 8 does so as
well. Of final note in this summary of points concerning the
differences in setting, the jurors all mention the heat wave
affecting the city when they begin, and as it agitates them, it
serves to heighten the tension between each other and their
resentment or other feelings towards jury duty. Oh- also lastly, I
think we can infer that the movie takes place in Manhattan, New York
City. Which jurors are from which boroughs is easily obvious and yet
I'm hesitant to say that the defendant could be from any of them-
slums were persistent in those times.
Concerning the characterization of the cast and their
conflicts with each other, the movie holds true to the play's
guidelines. For the most part, each character I saw in the movie
matched up with the picture my mind's eye had painted whilst I was
reading the play....
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