The Analysis of the Movie 12 Angry Men

 
The Analysis of the Movie 12 Angry Men
Leadership
It is important for a leader of a group to recognize and to know how to deal with the
various stages of group formation. It is also helpful to recognize the various ineffective roles
that might be adopted by individual members of the group either temporarily or throughout
the group task. Six general self-roles might come into play during group task work. These
include the Aggressor, the Blocker, the Joker, the Avoider, the Self-Confessor, and the
Recognition Seeker. Juror 3 is demonstrated as an aggressor to the greatest degree. He
continuously attacks his fellow jurors for their opinions regardless of the veracity of their
claims and obviously without having first considered their words. Juror 8 is the best example
of a blocker, consistently bringing up counterarguments to every piece of evidence that is
provided in the case and setting himself up as the lone opposition to a guilty verdict. Juror 10
is a good example of a joker since he is always disrupting the work of the group.
By recognizing various personalities that make up a group and identifying various
stages of the group development, group leaders are more capable of handling the dynamics
that may arise. This is particularly important within all professions, as groups likely to be led
will frequently involve highly personal, sensitive and sometimes controversial issues. Being
able to predict group behavior and understanding the various personality types that may
emerge will help the leader to validate the claims of the individuals while keeping the group
productive and positive.
Participation
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One of the most obvious features within the film is the development and participation
of the group as a whole. Because most seem anxious to get out of the room and on with their
day, there is not much time for getting to know each other, to form trusting relationships or to
establish a sense of universality, all of which are integral to the complete effectiveness of the
group. Despite this, the foreman continues to attempt to keep the group functional by
establishing the group rules and calling things to order when necessary. As the remaining
stages of the group are worked through in the film, the importance of this first step, and
knowledge of it, emerges as the group experiences numerous difficulties as a result of not
having had adequate time to foster a working relationship.
The storming phase of group formation comes after the group has been established. In
the film, it happens when various men begin raising their voices and shouting in true anger at
one man who shows that he is not convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that the boy on
trial is guilty of murder. Everyone is standing, shouting, and talking out of turn, and the
foreman, unable to regain order, attempts to give up his chair. Recognizing that they are all
getting out of hand, several of the group members jump in to try to calm things down,
reassure the foreman that he is doing a tremendous job as a leader, and each member of the
group seems to dedicate themselves to the issue at hand. This enables them to move into the
“norming stage” of group development since the men begin to realize that they all have the
same responsibility to decide whether another man lives or dies and begin discussing the
issues spontaneously rather than by a show of hands or a progression around the table. With
an attempt at respecting each other’s’ opinions and a dedication to sticking to the facts of the
case, the group moves into the performing stage of group development, in which much of the
work is done.
Climate
To help bring out the intense social climate he wished to cover, Sidney Lumet, the 
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director of the film, found it necessary to allow all twelve characters their own development
throughout the movie. Although there have been arguments brought forward that some jurors,
such as Juror 8, show very little progression as they are already close to Lumet’s view of
socially aware and responsible. In describing the movie-making process in general, Lumet
says that it is like making a mosaic:
Each setup is like a tiny tile. You color it, shape it, polish it as best you can. You’ll six
or seven hundred of these, maybe a thousand. Then you literally paste them together
and hope it’s what you set out to do. But if you expect the final mosaic to look like
anything, you’d better know what you’re going for as you work on each tiny tile.
(Lumet 52)
The ability to work with Kaufman adds yet another element as Lumet explains
Kaufman’s style to be exactly in tune with the dramatic interpretation of the scenes that
Lumet himself envisions. “The camera becomes another leading actor. … the camera – like
everything else in a piece – has to relate to what’s going on dramatically. You have to cast
your camera the way you cast an actor” (Lumet 52). Thus, with a clear direction and vision in
the mind of the directo