Watching videos on a plane

Yesterday I was on a flight home from Chicago to Tokyo with about twelve hours to kill. I did some work on summarizing project work from the week in Chicago but later I wanted to (as the airline suggested) "sit back and relax". WIth a wide selection of videos on demand and a wide, comfortable seat, I started checking out the selection, I found many recent releases that seemed enticing to see the latest cinematography achievements. After all, today's directors have almost unlimited budgets and the technology to create virtually (no pun intended) anything.

After watching the first 15 minutes of several movies, I grew restless. Amazing and compelling visual efforts but they seemed devoid of spirit. Something was missing. Scanning through the available selection, I found 12 Angry Men and selected it. Wow, what a great movie! Sure it is dated and a little old-fashioned but the story and acting shone through.

Some background on the movie, as found in Wikipedia: 12 Angry Men is a 1957 American drama film adapted from a teleplay by Reginald Rose. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or innocence of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of two short scenes at the beginning and the end of the film set on the steps of the court building and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room. The total time spent outside of the jury room is eight minutes, out of the full 96 minutes of the movie.

12 Angry Men explores many techniques of consensus-building, and the difficulties encountered in the process, among a group of men whose range of personalities adds intensity and conflict. Apart from two of the jurors swapping names while leaving the courthouse, no names are used in the film: the defendant is referred to as "the boy" and the witnesses as the "old man" and "the lady across the street".

The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay. It lost to the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai in all three categories.

I enjoyed this movie and likely so because of its intensity yet simplicity. The actors worked with no special effects, one set and almost real time. Great movies, like many other things in life, are all about creating less rather than more. Amidst all the changes in technology, that hasn't changed.