Before watching the 12 Angry Men, I have watched lawyer drama such as Suits, but it was entirely different. My exposure to the film was actually on a plane back from China to New York in 2016 with the Chinese remake of the movie called 12 Citizen.

At first I was very impressed with the plot and the pacing of the Chinese film as it tackles a very nuanced and interesting topic for me. In hindsight, even though the two films are very similar, I would like to compare the two together as they are the same plot but portrayed in different cultures in different time periods.

The Chinese film greatly incorporates scenes and social structure that is rooted in Chinese culture. From peasant character to the scholar character that are from old Chinese operas and TV troupes. Much like the person from the “hood” that knows how to use a knife in the American version, both movies are depicted in their cultures which helps them to better relate to the viewers as well as giving it some much needed flare. In addition, the premise of the 12 Citizen is of a college law student class trial rather than an actual trial, which made me feel like there is much less at risk. There never truly felt like an urgency of a real boy will perhaps be executed, which was a rather big let down for me in the Chinese movie.

Lastly, the Chinese film gave visual representations of the “old man” and the “woman across the street” which did give a more clear picture of the overall context. As I was younger when I watched 12 Citizen, in retrospect it was nice. However, the pure oral context which all 12 of these angry men were arguing over, truly gives a jury meeting feeling and made me pay attention to every single word.  The mental image is very vivid from each character’s physical and oral actions. I really enjoyed watching the film, and it was nice to finally see the original classic.