Cell 211

Hopscotch

R4 DVD

Spanish with English subtitles

Prison thrillers are a wide ranging genre. They can be superb, like The Green Mile and the Shawshank Redemption, or complete exploitation trash. It has been a while since we have had a really good one but Cell 211 stands out. It has an intelligent plot and great acting. The personalities of the protagonists are brought out strongly, which is important to give the film its credibility.

Juan is a newly appointed warden who has turned up at work a day early to learn the ropes and show his enthusiasm. He needs the job – his wife is pregnant and while the job is dangerous it will give them a little extra income. There is an accident and he is hit on the head by a lump of concrete. The other guards put him on a bed in Cell 211 and go to get help. It is at that moment that the prisoners riot and one of the rioters finds Juan regaining consciousness in the cell. He is bleeding from a head wound and they assume he is a new prisoner who has been bashed by the warders. This is, apparently, a common practice. Juan improvises and goes along with the idea to save his life.

The prisoners are led by the charismatic Malamadre, a menacing thug who will never be allowed out of prison. He has limited long-term planning ability but he has organised riots before in other prisons. Juan is able to gain his confidence by suggesting better ways to achieve his aims. He also manages to save the life of a guard. He suggests to the prisoners that if they kill the guard the SWAT team will take over the prison and there will be wholesale slaughter. Instead he suggests cutting an ear off the warder – the SWAT team will come in if a guard is killed, but will not think an ear is worthwhile. To prove his credibility, Juan has to do the amputation. Malamadre comes to feel a growing respect for the young man. They even swap information about their lives and families.

There is a further complication. The prison houses a small number of ETA terrorists. These men worked for the Basque separatist movement and now the Basques have got a sort of home rule the terrorists are “sacred” – they will not be touched by the warders. They are somewhat more intelligent than the average prisoner and they suspect Juan may not be a real inmate. There is an uneasy truce between the inmates and the terrorists.

For the government the situation is getting worse. Word has got out about the riot and supporters and family are gathered at the gate in a rowdy group. In the crush when the riot police attempt to break up the crowd, a warder hits Juan’s wife with a baton. She is taken to hospital, but dies soon after. Even Malamadre feels some sympathy towards the young man. When Juan learns of his wife’s death he is enraged. The warder is sent in to negotiate and Juan slashes his throat. Sooner or later the SWAT team will move in, but not before Juan and Malamadre come into conflict over who is leading the rebellion.

It is interesting to watch Juan’s attitude change as he sees and hears of the atrocities carried out against the prisoners. He is basically a nice guy but in the prison he must become as tough as the inmates and show no weakness. As events progress he becomes more and more like a prison tough – we suspect that he may not be entirely acting a role any more. Them Malamadre finds out that Juan is actually a warder. Will the growing respect between the two men be enough to save Juan? Can both of them survive the terrorists’ agenda? Even if Juan survives he is now a murderer.

The film was powerful enough to carry off eight Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars. It is careful not to make heroes of the prisoners but shows them as they are, a savage bunch who have been downtrodden for too long. Cell 211 is truly a magnificent film and well worth watching.

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