A loose remake of Sidney Lumett "12 Angry Men" (1957) which was made by the words of its creator to honor the 50th anniversary of the beloved classic , "12" set in 2007 in a gym of one of the Moscow High Schools where the other "12 angry men" are struggling to decide the fate of a Chechen teenager who is charged with the murder of his Russian stepfather, the Army Officer, the Veteran of Chechen war who had adopted the boy after his mother and father were both killed. All evidences point at the boy, and there are the testaments of the eye-witnesses against him.
I personally believe that "12" (2207) is a bad movie, with the huge holes in the plot, with the characters that are more of caricatures and clichés than the real 12 angry men representing the different layers of the modern Russian society , and with the good actors giving overheated non-convincing performances that often sounded false and made me cringe. To top it all, Mikhalkov took it upon himself a role of God-like figure who is above the laws and who knows better than anyone else what is good for the particular case, for the law, and for the whole country. I am a big fan of earlier Mikhalkov's films. He is a talented filmmaker. He's made more than few films he could be justly proud of. Among them "Friend Among Strangers, Stranger Among Friends", 1974) - simply great, it was first film Nikita Mikhalkov directed and starred and it was first Russian Art-action movie that takes place during the Civil War of the 1918-1921. It is fun - clever, nicely shot, and wonderfully acted by the best actors of the time. Is regarded as one of the best "Easterns", the western: Russian style and is almost as popular and beloved as the masterpiece of the genre, ""White Sun of Desert". There is also "Slave of Love" (1976) with the incredible performance by the Muse of his earlier films, Yelena Solovey as a doomed silent screen star in the shattering world of the Russian Revolution of the 1917 and the following Civil War of 1918-1921. The final scene of the movie - Olga Voznesenskaya (Solovey) in the runaway tram is heart-breaking and tragically beautiful. Mikhalkov's adaptations of the Goncharov's "Oblomov" and Chekhov's "Platonov" are first rate and proved his taste, talent, cinematic vision, and ability to get the fine performances from all his actors. He was successful in creating smaller, chamber compelling pieces with only few main characters, like "Five Evenings (1979) and "Without Witness" (1983). He deservingly won the Oscar for "Burnt by the Sun" (1994) which I see as the tragic sequel to his earlier masterpiece, "Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano". It went down the hill after his Oscar victory. "The Barber of Siberia" (1998) was nothing more than a glossy post card - "From Russia with Love". I think he only made it to be able to play the Russian Emperor Alexander III. And now - "12", 12 jurors or 11 apostles following who? "V belom venchike iz roz vperedi Isus Christos" ("In a white roses nimbus on his head, Jesus Christ is walking ahead")? Is that the role Nikita Mikhalkov wants to play in the movie and in the reality?
I personally believe that "12" (2207) is a bad movie, with the huge holes in the plot, with the characters that are more of caricatures and clichés than the real 12 angry men representing the different layers of the modern Russian society , and with the good actors giving overheated non-convincing performances that often sounded false and made me cringe. To top it all, Mikhalkov took it upon himself a role of God-like figure who is above the laws and who knows better than anyone else what is good for the particular case, for the law, and for the whole country. I am a big fan of earlier Mikhalkov's films. He is a talented filmmaker. He's made more than few films he could be justly proud of. Among them "Friend Among Strangers, Stranger Among Friends", 1974) - simply great, it was first film Nikita Mikhalkov directed and starred and it was first Russian Art-action movie that takes place during the Civil War of the 1918-1921. It is fun - clever, nicely shot, and wonderfully acted by the best actors of the time. Is regarded as one of the best "Easterns", the western: Russian style and is almost as popular and beloved as the masterpiece of the genre, ""White Sun of Desert". There is also "Slave of Love" (1976) with the incredible performance by the Muse of his earlier films, Yelena Solovey as a doomed silent screen star in the shattering world of the Russian Revolution of the 1917 and the following Civil War of 1918-1921. The final scene of the movie - Olga Voznesenskaya (Solovey) in the runaway tram is heart-breaking and tragically beautiful. Mikhalkov's adaptations of the Goncharov's "Oblomov" and Chekhov's "Platonov" are first rate and proved his taste, talent, cinematic vision, and ability to get the fine performances from all his actors. He was successful in creating smaller, chamber compelling pieces with only few main characters, like "Five Evenings (1979) and "Without Witness" (1983). He deservingly won the Oscar for "Burnt by the Sun" (1994) which I see as the tragic sequel to his earlier masterpiece, "Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano". It went down the hill after his Oscar victory. "The Barber of Siberia" (1998) was nothing more than a glossy post card - "From Russia with Love". I think he only made it to be able to play the Russian Emperor Alexander III. And now - "12", 12 jurors or 11 apostles following who? "V belom venchike iz roz vperedi Isus Christos" ("In a white roses nimbus on his head, Jesus Christ is walking ahead")? Is that the role Nikita Mikhalkov wants to play in the movie and in the reality?