12 (2007)

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

Director:

Nikita Mikhalkov

Writers:

Nikita Mikhalkov, Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov,

Stars:

Sergey Makovetskiy, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Garmash

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sergey Makovetskiy	...	1-y prisyazhnyy
Nikita Mikhalkov	...	2-y prisyazhnyy
Sergey Garmash	...	3-y prisyazhnyy
Valentin Gaft	...	4-y prisyazhnyy
Aleksey Petrenko	...	5-y prisyazhnyy
Yuriy Stoyanov	...	6-y prisyazhnyy
Sergey Gazarov	...	7-y prisyazhnyy
Mikhail Efremov	...	8-y prisyazhnyy
Aleksey Gorbunov	...	9-y prisyazhnyy
Sergey Artsibashev	...	10-y prisyazhnyy
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	11-y prisyazhnyy
Roman Madyanov	...	12-y prisyazhnyy
Aleksandr Adabashyan	...	Pristav
Apti Magamaev	...	Malchik
Abdi Magamaev	...	Malenkiy chechenets

Storyline

A loose remake of 12 Angry Men, set in a Russian school. 12 jurors are struggling to decide the fate of a Chechen teenager who allegedly killed his Russian stepfather who took the teenager to live with him in Moscow during the Chechen War in which teenager lost his parents. The jurors: a racist taxi-driver, a suspicious doctor, a vacillating TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a flamboyant musician, a cemetery manager, and others represent the fragmented society of modern day Russia. A stray bird (a touch of New Age cinema) is flying above the jurors' heads, alluding to tolerance.

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Plot Keywords:

stepfather | chechen war | bird | russia | school | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Kinovista [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian Chechen

Release Date:

20 September 2007 (Russia)

Also Known As:

12 razgnevannyh muzhchin

Filming Locations:

Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$12,042 (USA) (6 March 2009)

Gross:

$125,024 (USA) (19 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, Studio Trite, Three T Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nominated for Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

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Goofs

"Ernest Emerson" is a manufacturer of knives from the USA. However their model, CQC7, is not like the knife on the film. Emerson knives are folding knives.

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Connections

Version of 12 Angry Men (1957)

User Reviews

Walkthroug to the Wide Russian Soul

"In a scene showing a Chechen town the writing on the wall says "Don't shoot. Only women and children here" but only in Russian. In Chechnia all signs like that were written in three languages - Russian, Chechen and Arabic because Middle Eastern mercenaries participating the conflict could not read in Russian. Besides, it's difficult to believe someone would put such a sign and thus indicate there is SOMEONE in there." In Russia EVERYTHING is believable, that's what Nikita Mikhalkov wants to say. This movie is a fiction, don't forget it! But all the stories told in it are possible and the way of thinking of these people may be hard to understand, but it's true. This film is a cut through the Russian Soul and it's great.