12

Nikita Michalkov received an Oscar nomination for his skilfull adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s 12 ANGRY MEN (1957). In modern Russia, 12 members of a jury sit in a sports hall and deliberate their verdict on a young Chechen man accused of murdering his stepfather. What initially seems like a clearcut case “beyond reasonable doubt” develops into a dramatic chamber piece. Arguments over law and justice bring out the animosities and prejudices of a society. The members of the jury move from indifference to aggression and what seemed obvious turns out to have been a set-up all along.