Celda 211: Into a jail we go…

   A few nights ago, I watched the movie Celda 211Cell 211 in English–upon the recommendation of my Spanish teacher Alice Edwards.

   Celda 211 is in Spanish with English subtitles, and is about a soon-to-be prison guard, Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann), who is touring the falling down jail in preparation for his first day on the job, which is supposed to be the following day.

   While they are touring, part of the ceiling hits Oliver in the head, and the two men with him put him in cell 211 as they call for a doctor. The film then swings to the sequence of events going on in other parts of the jail–a riot is breaking loose.The men leave Oliver in the cell as the inmates take control the entire jail.

   Oliver has to pretend to be an inmate to survive, and does surprising well–he befriends the leader of the riot and is soon a trusted member of the jail.

   However, over the next 24 hours, secrets leak out and the riot spirals out of control, leading to an unexpected ending, and that is all I’m going to say about that! No spoilers here.

   This is a phenomenal film for a number of reasons, the first being that the film ended realistically. Not many American films end this way–they go for the psychologically pleasing ending so that people will leave with a good feeling and not much else.

   One of the things I generally enjoy the most about foreign films is their realistic endings–no matter if they are happy, sad, or left open-ended. They are realistic. One of my biggest pet peeves is watching something and thinking “this would never happen…” and Celda 211 definitely did not leave me thinking that.

   An additional reason I really liked this film was the unusual setting. Not many films are set in a jail, and this offered a unique perspective into life in a jail from the perspective of an outsider going in, which is also a view that we don’t get to see very often. Normally when there is a movie set in a jail we see things from the inmates’ perspectives.

   Another point I wanted to mention that interested me (and this might be because it is a foreign film) is that Oliver, the favored character, is not on the movie poster. It is the gang leader, or Malamadre (Luis Tosar), who is featured on the poster.

   Let me also point out that malamadre is translated as ‘badass,’ which I find particularly amusing. I’m not sure which I find more amusing–the translation itself or that fact that the other main character’s name was Badass.

   Celda 211 was thought provoking and interesting. As long as you are not put off by reading subtitles, I suggest seeing this movie!

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