Director: Daniel Monzon
Running Time: 108 mins
Certificate: 18
Release Date: January 9th, 2012
In principle, a prison is a great place to set a movie. By its very nature it’s a hotbed of tension, with different sides, agendas and emotions battling against one another. As many prison movies have shown though, because there’s so much going on in a jail it’s a place that’s often difficult to tame on screen, leading to films that are either too dumb, too unrealistic or too haphazardly hectic.
Cell 211 is a rare case of a prison flick that manages to keep control of everything, while weaving a complex narrative where the tension comes from the characters as much as the situation. Juan (Alberto Ammann) is a young man who’s got a job as a prison guard and is touring the jail the day before he’s due to start work. After getting knocked unconscious just as a prison riot break out, Juan is abandoned in the empty cell 211 when the guards make a run for it.
Trapped in with the prisoners, Juan soon comes face-to-face with the intense and intimidating riot leader, Malamadre – a man used to being in control of his domain. Juan quickly realises his only chance is to pretend he’s a new inmate, leading to the two men forming an uneasy bond.
Cell 211 constantly ratchets up the narrative, with Juan’s wife expecting a baby, a bunch of ETA prisoners being taken hostage, different factions amongst the inmates not trusting one another and the ever pressing threat that Juan’s cover will be blown at any moment.
The men at the centre of the tale make a fascinating pair. They’re very different people but as the tale goes on each shows signs of what drives the other. Juan is soft and smart where Malamadre is hard and aggressive, but the film does a good job of showing that they’re more similar than you’d expect. It does a good job of that across the board, so that there are no clear cut good guys or bad guys. The prisoners have plenty of legitimate demands against the somewhat heartless guards, even though most of the inmates them are violent, angry men. It’s a film where everyone’s motives are understandable whether you agree with them or not.
Director Daniel Monzon holds everything together extremely well, creating a tense, uneasy movie where you’re never sure who to trust or who to empathise with. Although the prison thriller isn’t normally the most lauded of genres, Cell 211 picked up eight Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars), including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Director. It just goes to show that the film offers more than you might expect, with strong characters, an ever twisting story and some great performances. Luis Tosar is especially good as the scary but oddly compassionate inmate ringleader Malamadre. During moments when things might have stretched credibility, it’s him who holds things together and keeps you sucked in.
The ending is rather intriguing, using cinema conventions to play with your expectations before upending them and offering something a lot darker and more interesting. It’s a case where a somewhere abrupt ending is more than justified and doesn’t seem cheap.
Hollywood has already snapped up remake rights to the movie, with Crash’ Paul Haggis’ hired to write and possibly direct the movie. It’s the sort of European treat that often gets screwed up when the studio system tries to co-opt it, but the original is a tense and engrossing prison drama that’s well worth seeking out.
Overall Verdict: A great Spanish prison thriller that’ll have you on the edge of your seat as it plays with your expectations and weaves and ever tautening narrative.
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
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