5) 12 Angry Men
Ok, so Bridge on the River Kwai is pretty good I guess, I’m happy for it, but 12 Angry Men is one of the greatest films of all time. Again, and I don’t like appealing to them too often, but IMDb users are again on my side on this one. Why do modern audiences respond to 12 Angry Men when they see it?
For one, it has the same factor that I find Citizen Kane to have: it feels more like something that was made today rather than 50 years ago. There’s something to the rhythm of the movie that doesn’t feel as tired or corny as other 1950s films. I can’t say the cast appeals to me that greatly since I’m not familiar enough with actors of the era for the facial or name recognition to have any effect, with Henry Fonda being the one appropriate exception. Maybe some of it is in its deceptively simple premise. People expect from it a typical court drama, and instead get drama that is extremely gripping for reasons that aren’t really that obvious. It’s strangely absorbing. That’s usually the stuff that works best, when you don’t realize the spell it’s cast on you. That it can still cast its spell on today’s audiences speaks to its greatness more than awards likely ever could.