Our latest review is about the Korean film ‘Juror 8’. This 2019 film is just under two hours long and has some incredible actors playing in it.
‘Juror 8’ is the first movie written and directed by Hong Seung-Wan. It tells the story of the first trial in Korea that had jurors. It’s based on a true story, but obviously there are some things that are added to make the story more interesting.
The story
The film follows how the people for the jury are selected, how the judge has to deal with people who haven’t had any experience in court whatsoever. There is no Korean precedent, so they don’t know how to act.
The story itself kind of reminded me of ‘12 Angry Men’. The jurors have to decide whether or not the person who is on stand, played by Seo Hyun-Woo, is actually guilty of murdering his mother or not. It makes up for quite a few interesting debates and the jurors end up doing more detective work than the actual detectives. Opinions sway with every new connection they make. After all, it is a huge decision. It’s a lot to ask from regular civilians. It’s something that Hong Seung-Wan touched on in his script.
The judge, portrayed by Moon So-Ri eventually has to tell the jurors that she will still be making the final decision. She can choose whether or not to follow the decision of the jurors. There’s a lot of pressure on the judge from her superiors to close the case appropriately because of its ‘newness’. They want good press coverage.
The jurors
The eight jurors are played by Park Hyung-shik, Baek Soo-Jang, Jo Soo-Hyang, Jo Han-Chul, Kim Mi-Kyung, Yoon Kyung-Ho, Seo Jung-Yeon and Kim Hong-Fa.
Park Hyung-shik plays one of the key roles in the movie. He’s the last juror to be selected, almost as a last resort. He’s an inventor who’s struggling and isn’t exactly the brightest. However, his innocence suits him well.
There are a couple of small roles played by big names. There’s a janitor played by Kim Sun-Young, a judge portrayed by Ryu Deok-Hwan and a committee member played by Lee Kyu-Hyung.
I genuinely enjoyed watching this movie. They balanced heavy, emotional moments well with the lighter, funny bits. Overall, I would definitely recommend ‘Juror 8’. Even if you aren’t into movies like this, I would give it a shot, even if it is just for Park Hyung-shik. We can never have enough Park Hyung-shik, just saying.
Take a look at the trailer:
