12 Citizens

{{Infobox film

| name = 12 Citizens

| image = 12 Citizens film poster.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name = 十二公民

| director = Xu Ang (徐昂)

| producer = Yan Jianwei (严建伟)
Liangwen Li (李良文)
Yang Ming (杨明)
Luna Wang (王露娜)

| writer = Jinglong Han (韩景龙)
Yujiao Li (李玉娇)

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on = {{based on|Twelve Angry Men|Reginald Rose}}

| starring =

| narrator =

| music = Radio Mars

| cinematography = Tao Cai (陶彩)

| editing = Wang Gang (王刚)
Jiale Yin (尹佳乐)

| studio =

| distributor =

| released = {{film date|2014|10|19|Rome|2015|5|15|China}}

| runtime = 106 minutes

| country = China

| language = Mandarin

| budget =

| gross = {{CNY|2.07 million}} (China)

}}

12 Citizens ({{zh|十二公民}}) is a 2014 Chinese suspense crime drama film directed by Xu Ang. It was shown at the 2014 Rome Film Festival on October 19, 2014{{cite web|url=http://filmguide.romacinemafest.it/it/film.aspx?ID=9621&title=Shier+gongmin+%2812+Citizens%29 |title=Shier gongmin (12 Citizens) |accessdate=May 17, 2015 |work=filmguide.romacinemafest.it |language=Italian |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012070717/http://filmguide.romacinemafest.it/it/film.aspx?ID=9621&title=Shier%2Bgongmin%2B%2812%2BCitizens%29 |archivedate=October 12, 2014 }} and was released in China on May 15, 2015.{{cite web |url= http://movie.douban.com/subject/24875534/|title= 十二公民 (2014)|accessdate= May 17, 2015|work= movie.douban.com|publisher= douban.com|language= Chinese}} The plot is based on and heavily references the plot of the 1954 teleplay Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Various localization changes were made, such as changing the original, everyman protagonist into a Prosecutor of the Chinese Communist Party.

==Plot==

On a hot summer's day, 12 male "citizens" undergo a mock jury for a law school's Western law subject. The mock jury need to decide whether a boy is guilty or not of a murder of his father with a knife based on the evidence. The evidence prepared by the students of the course seems airtight and therefore it seems as if the jury will render him guilty of the crime.

However, one juror does not follow the consensus and appreciates the nuances and seriousness of the verdict. His motives are unclear but he wants to entertain the thought that there is reasonable doubt about the guilt of the boy. As a result, the evidence is slowly cross-referenced and examined. Conflicts are spurred as a result of their differing personalities and strong opinions. Eventually, one by one, the jurors are convinced that there is reasonable doubt and judge the boy to be not guilty.

On the end of the mock jury trial, the jurors are visibly exhausted. The juror who had rebelled and wanted to see the case through is revealed to be a prosecutor of the People's Republic of China. The final credits note that the actual perpetrator was arrested a month later.