CLAUSTROPHOBIA FROM SPAIN : "CELL 211"

Who do you think of when you hear the phrase “famous Spanish director”? Pedro Almodovar? Alejandro Amenabar? Well, Daniel Monzon might be another name to add to that list. He basically took everyone (including Almodovar and Amenabar) by surprise at the Goya awards this year and made off with eight of them. And the “surprise contender” is Celda 211 / Cell 211 . Although, to be fair, to anyone who has actually seen this film, this will not come as a surprise.

Based on a book – now a bestseller of course - Cell 211 is the story of Juan, soon to be father and prison warden. And life for Juan is exciting : He loves his wife who is six months pregnant to their first child and he has just got out of his rather gruesome job at the local slaughterhouse and become a prison warden. He has a day until he starts yet but he decides to visit the local “slam” anyway. He wants to give a good impression – not to mention starting learning the ropes… His new colleagues are happy to meet him and eager to show him around, all seems to be going well until a small accident happens… The prison is being renovated and a falling piece of plaster hits Juan on the head, momentarily knocking him out. His colleagues decide to lay him down in an empty cell (cell 211 as you may have gathered) and run for the doctor. Just at this particular point, an uprising starts in the prison. And Juan is left inside, on his own and unconscious. When he comes round, there seems to be only one way of surviving the madness : pretending he is the new inmate of cell 211 instead of a guard until he can find a way of breaking out…

Now, the story and the pace of Cell 211 is more than enough to glue you to the screen. It’s an adventure story and thriller of the highest caliber, there are many twists and turns you will never have even imagined. But there is also a very deep side to it that I think makes it relevant in our troubled times. Ok fair warning, this is another film I saw in the “Human Rights” competition of the local film festival. Police brutality, prison conditions and prejudice are the main themes of the film and very easy to “spot”. But there is a much deeper and more disturbing side to the storyline. It is the argument, which seems to be surfacing more and more often these days that each and every one of us is capable of violence if pushed hard enough and put in the right circumstances… And indeed, this is a side of the storyline that you may find disturbing – the idea of someone like you or I committing hideous crimes – or alternatively the idea that people who commit hideous crimes are really just like you or I sometimes – is disturbing to say the least. It doesn’t make it any less true for all that though… Watching it will give you quite a lot to think about. After it’s finished though. You will not have the time to “think” about anything ‘till the end of the film – it’s too darn exciting!!