12 (2007)

12: Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. With Sergey Makovetskiy, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Garmash, Valentin Gaft. Twelve jurors must decide the fate of a Chechen adolescent charged with murdering his stepfather.

“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 societyu0026#39;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 Efremovu0026#39;s character).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDownsides: certain characters are shallow caricatures clearly used to express Mikhalkovu0026#39;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 u0026quot;freedom is slaveryu0026quot; 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 u0026quot;all Russian artistsu0026quot; begging him to stay another term. Ironically, the argument is presented so weakly and crudely that Mikhalkov ends up shooting himself in a foot.”