Twelfth Light

Last weekend I viewed the Russian movie “12”. Though not the genre of movie I usually watch, I found “12” hopeful and haunting, complex and concise. The element that struck me the most was the use of lighting to affect the audience, reflect the tone, and propel the storyline.

As the opening scenes unfold, we find the jury in a well-lit courtroom, elementary school, and ultimately gymnasium. It is daylight outside. There are skylights as well as artificial lighting. The jurors are light hearted and crack jokes together, even at one point singing songs and playing the piano. As the movie progresses, the tone becomes more and more serious, and the light becomes darker and darker. Eventually, the lights go out completely, leaving the jurors in total darkness with only a few candles to light their proceedings. From personal experience, the audience can feel this darkness, the sense of foreboding, the seriousness of the situation. It is in the dark that the 12 men’s darkest secrets make themselves known.

The change between light and darkness also plays a role in the flashbacks of the accused boy. His childhood memories of his homeland and his parents are bright and sunny. He is happy and carefree out in the sunshine. It is after his parents are killed that the light begins to change. Gone is the light and sunshine; darkness and smoke replace them. Each flashback is darker and darker until you see the boy in his prison cell, the darkest of all.

When the jurors at last reach the conclusion of the boy’s innocence and agree to free him from prison, light slowly returns to the screen. The early morning light shines across the newly fallen snow through the gymnasium windows. This one scene fills the audience with a newfound hope. The sunrise is the dawning of a new day. No more will the boy’s life be filled with darkness but with light. Through its beautiful use of lighting, the film shows the audience that redemption can be found. It encourages them to reach up from the darkness towards the light.