I knew that Kwon Nam-joo (played by Park Hyung-sik) was represented the 1957 film 12 Angry Men character Davis (the Juror No. 8) which played by Henry Fonda.

I fondly remember watching this some years ago and it was a learning experience.

The part of the drama that caught me the most was the judgment Judge Kim made - When in doubt, consider the interest of the defendant. I don't exactly know how that ensures a defendant gets a guilty verdict, but I liked how that thought influenced both Judge Kim's initial and final verdict.

And the question she asked Nan-joo where she corrected him on his response as to why we have the law - it doesn't serve to punish people. Is it right to punish people without standard? They could be wrongfully charged. To avoid punishing people unjustly and to set a standard, that's the law.

Although Judge Kim herself interpreted this differently from Nam-joo, and had to be reminded by Nam-joo the schooling she gave him at the beginning of the drama, it was so touching to find it guide her ruling.

I'm a fan of anything law. That's the very reason why I watched this. Plus, when I saw Moon So-ri was the head Judge on the case, I knew I wasn't going to pass it over.

On an aside, after watching several villainous Jo Han-chuls in a row, I was very skeptical about his character. And when he was exhibiting the same traits, I almost called it, again. I was so soothed when it turned out he's just a regular human having differing opinions, and the compelling argument his character made had a tangential impact during the whole deliberation process - that juror who once convinced, the other jurors would be a piece of cake. Turns out I was rightly worried for nothing.

The two bolded are my major takeaway lessons from the drama, and they've become one of the things that influence my interpretation of situations in many ways than one.

I can’t believe the first jury trial was so late in the day in South Korea. This film is not for me as I am already dreading being called for jury service in real life and having to deal with this type of case would be my worst nightmare!

Looking forward to Il mare as I watched that for the first time last year. I hope it encourages more people to watch it.

This has been on my watchlist for a year, so I skipped straight to @dramaddictally 's end comments. I guess I'll finally press play.

I saw Il Mare recently. I think it's a good choice to also watch the American adaptation The Lake House to compare the two. I will keep further comments for the upcoming post.

oooh this sounds intriguing! i'm a fan of true crime and spend way too many hours of my life watching / listening to court trials (atm it's ethan crumbly's parents being accused of gross negligence that "allowed/prompted" his shooting up the school - heartbreaking on all accounts).
plus Park Hyung-shik who is so fricking adorable :)

As far as I know, the defendant in South Korea can choose whether his trial will be composed of professional judges or a jury consisting of citizens selected at random. The presiding judge of the trial pulls out their names randomly from the pool of names. There are 3 judges, 1 is presiding judge. This was the case in the drama "Blind" (2022), where the defendant chose a jury consisting of ordinary people for a reason that is a spoiler.

It's been I while since I've watched the movie, but I remember liking it well enough. Beginning is certainly not very grabbing, but as the story unfolds, you start to pay attention and the ending hits all the right notes (even tho there's one tiny scene in the epilogue that will make you go "wait, what?"). Hyungsik is really good here - I've never seen him playing such a devoid of swag character anywhere else, even Dal Bong wasn't that much of a lovable loser lmao))) Also SHW impressed me a lot with his portrayal, I actually didn't even realize it was him until the halfway. Beware the undertones of "funny kdrama violence", I recall cringing hard through those.

A few weeks ago I used this movie to get a quick PHS fix and then like two days later it was announced as the movie for January and I was so excited!

It was fun to see him in this role because it is so un-glamorous compared to a lot of his other roles. He looks as much like a normal person as PHS can ever look, and there is nothing particularly special about him, which I loved.

I am quite familiar with 12 Angry Men, and I really enjoyed how this movie twisted scenes in that one so that they were new and surprising. The scene where all the jurors go to the apartment complex to reenact the situation and see if they can tell who the culprit is, and the scene in the courtroom when they try to figure out if the defendant can swing a hammer are great examples. I also liked that in the end, it was really about choosing compassion whenever you can, and about not condemning people prematurely.

I was surprised that the first jury trial was only this century because they seem like the default in the US, but I did some research and realized that in most countries they aren’t as common as they are here. The stats at the end about juries returning more “not guilty” verdicts is really interesting, and not entirely what I would expect. (Does anyone know the stats on this elsewhere?) So often people talk each other into being more ruthless than they would otherwise be, so in a way I found it really refreshing and hopeful that this trends the opposite way.

Bottom line: I really liked this movie and l’d recommend it if you liked 12 Angry Men, if you need a little hope in the criminal justice system, or if you just need a quick Park Hyung-sik fix. It’s great for all of those things!

of course Hung-Sik is a magnet. He is empathic and compassionate towards his character, he has a way of making people emotionally invested in their mind and heart. he is also not trying to be too witty or charming, but emphasizes the weak points of the character. I have heard of this movie but havent watched it yet

URI puppy Hyung Sik is on a roll here on Dramabeans 🎉 I’m not complaining 😏
This is another one of his works wherein I missed out on at the time of its release because of accessibility issues. A while has now passed, maybe it’s time I just try to look around again to see if I can access it somewhere. If my memory serves me correctly, I think it’s on Viki, but I disassociated myself from them a while back already

I watched Juror 8 when my family was a roll for everything Park Hyung Sik.
Whenever this movie is mentioned, something immediately pops into my mind that leaves me smiling like a loon. There is a scene where everyone is looking for Nam Joo (PHS) and someone describes him as "Have you seen this guy - average looking, wearing a blue sweater..." My younger son who was watching with us, pressed the pause button and said - "Who wrote this dumbass dialouge? He is NOT average looking. That guy is 10 out of 10!" He said it with so much annoyance that it had me rolling in laughter.
This movie rests on the simplicity of its execution. Styled on the 1957 Hollywood movie of 12 angry men, it holds in own with aplomb. And it's led by a refreshingly unassuming Park Hyung Sik and a fiery Moon Sori. PHS is adorably next door in this where he plays a simpleton, not the brightest bulb in the room, but endearingly tenacious.
Four years ago, I was a part of a Jury for a man who was indicted for a homicide in a hit and run case. Out of 12 people, I was the only one who saw him as not guilty and I was so shocked when I found I had 11 people who disagreed with me. It took me seven hours to bring everyone around and not have a hung jury. So this case resonated with me and I identified with it more than I would have if I didn't have that experience.
It's not too long, and it's engrossing, very well acted and satisfying, a depicts what goes on in a jury room fabulously. The actual case is gut wrenching. And if you are a PHS fan, you wont have any issues rewatching it.

Usually I'm all for legal thrillers, but having recently watched Reversal of Fortune I guess I'll forswear off all legal stuff for a while.

Also what's with K-movies de-glamorizing our shiny and soft lit K-drama MLs. 🤔