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"12"
"12 Trailer" - First Look
"12" - In Movie Theaters March 4, 2009

12 Poster

"12" - As in the Sidney Lumet's film 12 Angry Men, all this film is confined to one jury room, were a verdict is being worked on the question of guilt of a young man accused of the 1st degree murder of his step-father. But for that general setting and a few turns of the story here and there, there is no further similarity. Its is a truly Russian story as the deliberation of the jury touch at the heart of what fills the hearts and souls of the people present in that room - even those that might not appear directly relevant to the guilt or innocence of the accused.

It's the hearts and souls that really create the tone of the arguments. And the people involved are very different: a laborer from the city subway rail transport system, the CEO of a joint Russian-Japanese corporation, a director of a cemetery, a producer of a small television company, a cab driver and a variety show performer.

It is a Russian story, in spite of the fact that ethnically they are all different - there is an old Jew, a Georgian Surgeon among the jurors. And when the suggestion is made by one of them, who at the beginning voted against a quick guilty vote, but rather to talk over the things that appear amiss, the case no longer appears to be a simply a matter of black and white. They begin to talk about the things that worries them, about the situation in the country which is going through the turmoil of a transition period, things that are not said on television, nor in the printed media, but are a perennial subject in every kitchen causing heated debates wherever people congregate.

It is about who is to blame for the things that are not going the right way in the country. It's about the Russian person not accustomed to living by the book, because law abiding is trivial and boring, and in Russia its all about hear and soul - not the Law. And they discover that hear and soul are there in each and everyone in the room. It's just that response time with every person present is different, as they have different histories of
resentments, which like crusted wounds cover their souls.

The most vivid supporter of the guilty verdict is a brutal type of character - the taxi man, an ardent ethnic chauvinist, who believes that the boy is guilty just because he is a Chechen, an Abo - the tribesman, which places him automatically as the bad guy. And the taxi man all of a sudden reveals a bizarre story of a relationship with his own son, whom nearly drove him to suicide.

Its seems sometimes that the Juror forget about what brought them there in the first place, the need to announce a verdict for the Chechen boy - the differences among them being so great. The same taxi man hates all immigrants from other cities and countries, because his Moscow seems to him not like the Moscow he once knew, and the Georgen surgeon, who does not speak Russian very well, is trying to find out from him who exactly the classified as a wild Aboriginal tribesman: Pirosmani, Danelia, Paradjanov, Shota Rusaveli, who?!

And the metro builder, who concurred with the taxi man's verdict initially in thinking that all foreigners are beasts by definition, suddenly starts talking about his own uncle, an electrician, who has nothing to do with the matter at hand, who got himself into a complicated tragic-comedic situation as a result of an unfortunate loss in a casino and who nearly became a terrorist, when he seized hostages demanding the lost money returned, but it ended peacefully and no one was hurt because...the metro builder has problems expressing is thoughts which are turning clumsily in his worker's head. Because the good guys must be helped and the bad guys must be dead...

And even the cynical variety show performer, who is getting late for his tour, who took it all as a source for his punts on stage at first, suddenly finds himself starting a tragic monologue about the only smile he earned once in his life. Because he gets terrified looking at the audience while he is on stage, when people are ready to laugh at everything - the perished in earthquakes, the killer militia men, and they only laugh because they are scared.

The film is a constant swing from funny to deeply tragic. It reminds a symphonic performance: there is a time when it takes the audience by its melody, getting through to everyone in the house and makes one feel that he/she is on the other side of the screen, in that room where the jurors are. Although the story is very Russian in its tone, and in spite of the Russian justice system being still very far from what is generally accepted in the democratic world, the global problems of humanity which are given credence in the picture are akin to everyone.

STARRING: Mikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Makovetsky, Sergey Garmash, Alexy Petrenko, Valentin Graft, Yury Stoyanov, Mikhail Efremov, Sergey Gazarov, Alexander Adabashian, Victor Verzhbitsky, Alexey Gorbunov, Roman Madianov, Sergey Artsybashev
DIRECTOR: Nikita Mikhalkov
STUDIO: Sony Classics
RATING: PG-13 (For adult situations, language)
THEATER COUNT (Opening Weekend): 5
RUNNING TIME: 2 hours
TOTAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: $125.120
U.S. DVD RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2009
LANGUAGE: Russian (English subtitles)






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Wild About Movies provides you with the most comprehensive movie posters, movie trailers, movie synopses, Behind The Scenes of movies, and celebrity interviews, and current, updated movie release date information - than any other movie website. At WAM you are able to peruse the movie trailers, movie posters and movie synopses of more than 500 movies not yet in theaters (and thousands of movies formerly in movie theaters and currently on DVD, including all "2009 DVDS" and "2009 BluRays"). The latest additions to the Wild About Movies database: The (delayed) Rob Marshall movie "Nine," The movie "Kick Ass" and two Paul Bettany movies "Creation" and "Legion." The - now - non Avatar entitled movie "The Last Airbender" and Dwayne Johnson in and as "The Tooth Fairy." Aging actors Mel Gibson in "Edge Of Darkness" and Sylvester Stallone in front of and behind the camera in "The Expendables" and "Rambo 5." Also "Lovely Still" - featuring Martin Landau & Ellen Burstyn. Matt Damon in the Paul Greengrass movie "Green Zone." Jake Gyllenhaal as "Prince of Persia" and Rose McGowan as "Red Sonja 2010." And Seth Rogen is "The Green Hornet." "Witchblade 2010," as well as sequels: "Nanny McPhee 2" and "Narnia 3" and everything from Daniel Radcliffe (naked at WAM and fully clothed) in "Harry Potter 7: Part 1," to the Disney 3D films "Cars 2" and "Toy Story 3." Michael Douglas in "Wall Street 2." And the requisites, "Cloverfield 2" and "Iron Man 2." Need more movies? The big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" - finally - with a release date in November 2009. Also, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's two year delayed next collaboration, "Shutter Island." In addition, the big screen comedy "Leap Year" and the non comedy "The Escapist," and Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" and "The Hobbit Movies." And Kenneth Branagh's "Thor." Also "The Smurfs Movie" and the big screen version of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and Ben Stiller's "Chicago 7." And a slew of animated and non animated Walt Disney and non Disney movies, many in 3D: including "The Smurfs" and "Fraggle Rock: The Movie" and "The King of the Elves" and "Rapunzel," "The Bear and the Bow;" "Newt," "The Princess And The Frog." And also "How To Train Your Dragon." How about Heath Ledger's final movie, "Dr. Parnassus." The four Jonas Brothers in the big screen adaptation of "Walter The Farting Dog" and Also: Zac Efron naked but not in "Me And Orson Welles." Also, Chace Crawford in "Footloose 2010." Benicio Del Toro as "The Wolfman." And James ("Titanic") Cameron's "Avatar;" and Robert Downey Jr. as "Sherlock Holmes." In addition, the sequel to "Twilight," and "New Moon," "Eclipse" and all starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. And, "Captain America." Also, check out all of the "2008 Movies" that were released in movie theaters. We also bring you "2010 Oscars" pre-coverage - and the movie trailers and movie posters of all "2009 Movies" & "2010 Movies" in theaters, including today's IN THE SPOTLIGHT - "Step Up 3"... (continue)




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