Celda 211

Cell 211 is an interesting prison drama with some strong performances and plenty of tense moments. The story centers around Jaun, a prison guard visiting his new place of employment who is unfortunate enough to find himself caught in the middle of a prison riot. An unfortunate turn of events leads to Juan being locked inside the jail with the inmates. He quickly realises it's adapt or die, and assumes the identity of a prisoner to ensure his own survival. The film has some very good performances and like many gritty prison dramas, come excessive violence that'll have you wincing away. The early themes of the film revolve around loyalty and earning respect, bit deeper into the film it becomes more about survival. Juan is put into situations where it appears no-one is on his side and taking matters into his own hands seems to be the only way out. There were times during the film when i thought i could predict exactly how Cell 211 was going to play out. Having seen my share of prison themed dramas over the years, it's all to easy to see where a film might lead in the final third. I'm happy to say that Cell 211 set itself up in what i thought was a predictable way, but that in the end, and to it's credit, i was surprised by how it played out. A strong film with commanding performances. 8/10

The family man Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann) leaves his beloved pregnant wife Elena (Marta Etura) at home to visit the prison where he will start working on the next day as prison guard to make a good impression. During his tour with the guards Armando Nieto (Fernando Soto) and his partner, a stone falls on his head and he faints. The two guards carry him to the empty cell 211, but out of the blue, there is a riot led by the dangerous Malamadre (Luis Tosar) and Juan is left behind by the two guards. When Juan awakes, he pretends to be a prisoner to survive and is forced to meet Malamadre. The leader Malamadre uses three political inmates from ETA as hostages to negotiate with the authorities and Juan helps him to write the terms of the negotiation. Meanwhile Elena finds that there is a rebellion in the prison and heads to the spot trying to get information about Juan. When the situation outside the prison is out of control, the SWAT and violent chief of the guards José Utrilla (Antonio Resines) beat the crowd and Elena is wounded by him. When Juan discovers what had happened with his wife, he becomes closer to Malamadre and changes his behavior taking the side of the inmates.

Movies about prison are usually engaging, but "Celda 211" is spectacular and one of the best films about prison. The dramatic screenplay is realistic, with a story of friendship and pain using the background of the environment of a prison and ETA in Spain, and the tight direction is supported by top-notch performances. The unknown actress Marta Etura is so gorgeous and sweet that increases the impact of her incident. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cela 211" ("Cell 211")

This is a great movie mainly for two reasons:

1. The script is not a typical Hollywood storyline. It's very realistic and powerful.

2. The performances of all actors are superb. In contrast to Hollywood movies, the actors in this movie are not models who decided to move to the film business but real actors.

Fortunately, there are still cinema people who do not see movies as commercial products for sale with the purpose of bringing enormous profit to the producers but rather works of art. There is still hope for cinema.

Greetings from Lithuania.

So so. It's been a long time, when i last time saw a film about prisons. Maybe it was "The Shawshank Redemption", i truly can't remember. I think, there isn't much films these days about "true" prison life (i still didn't saw "Un prophète"). Now, the thing i want to say is that i can't remember any other "prison" movie, except "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Midnight Express",but now, i'll always remember "Celda 211" (Cell 211-international title). This film goes "straight to the bone". Really great cinematography, excellent job by director (two thumbs up to Daniel Monzón), unbelievable acting - still can't believe that these guys aren't real prisoners. This film has it all. The only reason i saw this film, is that i watched "Agora", another great film from Spain, and was really surprised, when i heard, that "Agora" was overwhelmed at Goya Awards by some "prison drama". Now i can say, that "Celda 211" is the best film from Europe in long time - and i don't say this very often.

Go and watch this film, You won't be regretting.

Gran película and bravo to Spain!

Concerning a rookie guard who must pose as a prisoner once a full scale riot breaks out, Cell 211 is an absolute gem.

Fiercely tense with a cracking pace, an edgy sense of urgency and some ugly scenes of brutality, it's also got some great and believable performances as well as some rather poignant scenes, as bonds are made between prisoners and our protagonist gets to see things from their perspective.

Yet the last thing Cell 211 is is generic. It has some refreshingly genuine left field unexpected twists and developments that keep you pretty much hooked, from its attention grabbing opening scene to its blistering conclusion. It also does a great job of keeping you in suspense as to whether or not our protagonist will be discovered, with the viewer left under no illusions what will happen to him if he is.

It's also got some very decent production values and mercifully refrains from that awful jump cut editing during the more chaotic prison scenes.

But best of all is its sheer unpredictability as trust me- after the hour mark, you really won't be sure how things are gonna turn out and will be hooked all the more.

Overall a great film and highly highly recommended. See it now, you'll be glad you did. 9/10, Sheer class from Spain.