21 January 2008

Hands


I've not posted over the weekend despite wanting to post daily because my hands aren't working well. Yup, my hands are all (excuse the description) puffy and burny and itchy and no, there doesn't seem to be a good medical explanation or solution. Luckily, I discovered yesterday afternoon that my fingertips are doing much better, so typing is relatively comfortable. Now, I can do something more than change the channel with my fingernails - thank goodness!

My couch time was put to valuable use, though, watching movies. I watched Das Leben der Anderen (The Life of Others), Hot Fuzz, and 12 Angry Men. All very good, very different films. My vote for film to reflect on would go to 12 Angry Men.

Some thoughts on 12 Angry Men, in no particular order. The film maintains the Aristotelean qualities of unity of time and place. A rare quality in cinema productions, which usually cut from one place and time to another with alarming frequency. An exception might be 24, but that's another discussion. The film is less about a court case than prejudice, argumentation, truth, and justice. It raises some valid questions about the concept of a jury trial, as well. Do we really want to trust our legal system to citizens who are more concerned with getting back to work or not missing a ball game than with deciding a capital murder case? All in all, a recommended film.

Any suggestions for me should the hands give out again?

image source

2 comments:

  1. Oh but you're wrong! To put it diplomatically. TLOO really rocks, I must say, now that I've finally seen it. Not out of a patriotic pose, but out of deeply felt aesthetic uhm affectedness!

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  2. But have you seen 12 Angry Men? A good piece for theater, by the way. I heard that the director of Das Leben had done a new film, part of a trilogy. Know anything about it?

    ReplyDelete

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