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 | Bird | Chechnya | School | Russia

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:

The movie has an epigraph ("Don't look here for the truth of everyday life, but try to feel the truth of being") and an epilogue ("The law comes before everything, but what's to be done if the mercy comes before the law?"). Both are quotations from one B. Tosia. Most probably, he (or she) never lived and is the fictional alter ego of Nikita Mikhalkov.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009)

Jury plays god to a man, Mikhalkov plays god to a jury

The movie is bipolar. The upsides: great performances by many great actors; a view that the movie provides into the minds of contemporary Russians; and watching 12 post-post-Soviet (yet born and raised Soviet) people engaged in the a very Western activity, where their universal human feelings are intermixed with ways of thinking and arguing that are skewed by the history and problems of Russian society. Having characters give monologues in a single-room setting works very well for the theatrically-trained actors. Also, the discussion of society's problems and human responsibilities is refreshingly serious, in a big contrast to most post-Soviet expression, which tends to be extremely cynical (as argued quiet well by Efremov's character).

Downsides: certain characters are shallow caricatures clearly used to express Mikhalkov's personal tastes; way too many stretches in the plot; and the ending/punchline. Mikhalkov turns everything on its head in the end, very unconvincingly trying to argue that "freedom is slavery" and negating any civic benefit that the movie could have. This argument is basically a restatement of his political goals, most recently expressed off-screen by an open letter to Putin in the name of "all Russian artists" begging him to stay another term. Ironically, the argument is presented so weakly and crudely that Mikhalkov ends up shooting himself in a foot.