12 (2007)

Director:

Nikita Mikhalkov

Writers:

Nikita Mikhalkov (writer) &
Aleksandr Novototsky (writer) ...

Release Date:

20 September 2007 (Russia)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | War

Plot:

12 jurors must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager charged with murdering his stepfather.

Plot Keywords:

Stepfather | Chechnya | Bird | School | Caucasus

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sergei Makovetsky	...	Juror #1
Nikita Mikhalkov	...	Juror #2
Sergey Garmash	...	Juror #3
Valentin Gaft	...	Juror #4
Aleksei Petrenko	...	Juror #5
Yuriy Stoyanov	...	Juror #6
Sergey Gazarov	...	Juror #7
Mikhail Efremov	...	Juror #8
Aleksey Gorbunov	...	Juror #9
Sergei Artsybashev	...	Juror #10
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Juror #11
Roman Madyanov	...	Juror #12
Aleksandr Adabashyan	...	Bailiff
Apti Magamaev	...	The Boy
Abdi Magamayev	...	Little Chechen

Also Known As:

12 razgnevannyh muzhchin (Russia) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent images, disturbing content, thematic material, brief sexual and drug references, and smoking.

Runtime:

159 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | Chechen

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Taiwan:R-12 | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia)

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Studio Trite

Trivia:

Russia's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

A Worthy (and very Russian) Homage to the Original

Some of the IMDb commenters are a bit tough on this film for having some characters that verged on caricature. I see their point, but I think it is a bit unfair here. Given that this was an homage to the original (on its 50th anniversary), Mikhalkov had to take its basic plot as his foundation. That necessarily drained much of the drama from the story—-we know which way the countdown is going to proceed. It also forced him to deal with all 12 men.

Thus, what can he do to keep it interesting? He (1) features the ensemble acting—-terrific even to me as a non-Russian speaker, (2) highlighted the characters' weaknesses, including some human and Russian traits that have to be a bit outsized, (3) added a detached but affecting commentary on brutality of the Chechnya war and the tendency for Muscovites to see Chechens as monolithic, and (4) threw in a few plot wrinkles at the end. Given the constraints he faced, I thought it was a fine adaptation—and was thoroughly engrossing. Mikhalkov himself, as the jury foreman, is a commanding screen presence as well.