Cell 211

Sad Professor

I went to see this this afternoon. Fans of A Prophet might like it. It cleaned up at the Spanish Oscars. It's about a prison guard on his first day who gets caught in the middle of a prison riot and is forced to pretend he is an inmate to survive. The leader of the prisoners is played by Luis Tosar who many people may remember as the drug lord with scary eyes from Miami Vice. He is one very intense actor and this is a tour de force performance from him. The first two thirds of the film are very tense and exciting, but the third act is where the film really shines. Events play out in a way that you might not expect.

A Hollywood remake by Paul Haggis is apparently already in the works. After seeing how Haggis handled Anything For Her (which he remade as The Next Three Days), I'm not optimistic. Undoubtedly he will change the ending and probably add 20-30 minutes.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH4jRRAtQCA

losthorizon

Ive seen A prophet and I thought that was better than average. Ive read the reviews to this and to me it sounds like a great concept and its a film Ild love to see but again will this film turn up down the country? The idea of a Hollywood remake - meh!

Sad Professor

I think there's only one print in the country and the IFI have it. It's very annoying alright.

Tallon

That looks pretty good alright, I'll have to give it a watch

Skinfull

I've been waiting to see this. I didnt think it was out yet. Cineworld have been pushing it in their mag so they might get it soon enough. Otherwise I'll find it online.

Sad Professor

The IFI have it.

Fysh

I saw this last night and enjoyed it a lot. I thought the last 10-15 minutes were a tiny bit disappointing (

I didn't think Malamadre's reaction when Calzones gets shot by Apache to be particularly believable, and it seemed a bit melodramatic in a way that the rest of the film wasn't

), but it's definitely worth watching, Luis Tosar is fantastic in it.

One thing I did notice is that the English subtitles don't really do justice to the dialogue in the film. A lot of scenes, particularly the banter amongst the prisoners, are a lot funnier in Spanish than the subtitles convey. I'd happily watch it again tonight just for the quality of the dialogue, in fact.

Miguel_Sanchez

Overall I thought it was good without being excellent. Some great stuff in it and some really unexpected events.

I cannot see a Hollywood remake going ahead without some major changes!

tunguska

Saw it monday night and I have to say it was poor. I do like foreign films in general (Im not some idiot who sees subtitles and runs a mile)but this was a bad movie in any language. The acting was terrible(even the extras were unconvincing)the dialogue insipid, the plot ridiculous and contrived. Im baffled as to how this film has recieved so much praise. Its been compared to A Prophet but that is overly flattering for cell 211. A prophet is a race horse, cell 211 is a donkey. It looks like it was made for 50 quid aswell, it just looks so cheap. Muck. Dont believe the hype and dont waste your money(go see Senna instead).

Jimdagym

I am quite looking forward to seeing this, but I do get a Con Air vibe from the trailer.
Thats not neccesarily a bad thing btw.

Phony Scott

It sounds wildly far fetched. Is that the case? I hugely enjoyed 'Anything For Her' and this looks like the same ilk. 'Intacto' was the same, extremely improbable, but hugely entertaining.

Fysh

Phony Scott wrote: »

It sounds wildly far fetched. Is that the case? I hugely enjoyed 'Anything For Her' and this looks like the same ilk. 'Intacto' was the same, extremely improbable, but hugely entertaining.

Tunguska posted above that they found the plot to be contrived, but I didn't find it any more so than the plots of plenty of decent prison films; this goes double if you have any background in recent Spanish history concerning either prison riots or the political importance of ETA prisoners. The initial scene-setting is well-handled, and there are satisfactory explanations given for exactly how the events of the film came to happen, with characters in the story asking exactly the sort of questions you'd expect and looking for answers, rather than just accepting blind luck as an explanation.

I do think it loses the run of itself slightly towards the end, but overall I think it's definitely worth a watch - there are some excellently tense scenes and Malamadre, the leader of the rioting prisoners, is magnetic in almost every scene he's in.

johnny_ultimate

Just watched it and personally felt it was merely Ok - sometimes good, sometimes piss poor. Bits and pieces definitely worked - the pacing was frantic and engaging, and some interesting social subtexts. But other than that it was extremely by the numbers. Every narrative twist was predictable and telegraphed a mile off. The performances were bizarre and overwrought. The flashbacks were pitifully derivative, the infrequent flashforwards pointless. Tried to hard to shock too - was there anything more to the opening shock than some vague, minor narrative and thematic justification?

Its certainly moderately entertaining, and of course more than a little silly. But it commits crimes Hollywood would be eaten alive for. Blandly directed too, and about one plot contrivance per minute :pac:

misty floyd

Fysh wrote: »

this goes double if you have any background in recent Spanish history concerning either prison riots or the political importance of ETA prisoners. The initial scene-setting is well-handled,

I not sure you need a background in recent Spanish history or a handle on the Spanish language to appreciate the film. I just couldn't believe in a lot of it, the acting was very poor and overall I thought it was a silly film.

Rent it on DVD if you are stuck for something.

johnny_ultimate

misty floyd wrote: »

I not sure you need a background in recent Spanish history or a handle on the Spanish language to appreciate the film. I just couldn't believe in a lot of it, the acting was very poor and overall I thought it was a silly film.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more hostile I am towards it. It just doesn't have the convictions to follow through with ideas it presents - barring a half-hearted critique of the criminal justice system, it simply suggests themes and never explores them. Add in the ludicrous amount of plot contrivances it requires, and you're left with something that's only ever so slightly better than your run-of-the-mill thriller.

Fysh

misty floyd wrote: »

I not sure you need a background in recent Spanish history or a handle on the Spanish language to appreciate the film. I just couldn't believe in a lot of it, the acting was very poor and overall I thought it was a silly film.

Rent it on DVD if you are stuck for something.

Honestly, I think that Spanish speakers will get a bit more out of this film - the subtitles are good, but I noticed a lot of little bits of humour that were lost in translation. I've read a little bit about various prison riots that weren't particularly well handled in the late 80s/early 90s so in that sense the events of the film seemed plausible enough to me.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more hostile I am towards it. It just doesn't have the convictions to follow through with ideas it presents - barring a half-hearted critique of the criminal justice system, it simply suggests themes and never explores them. Add in the ludicrous amount of plot contrivances it requires, and you're left with something that's only ever so slightly better than your run-of-the-mill thriller.

I agree that it has some flaws, and it definitely doesn't manage to quite keep up with the tone that it sets up with the opening scene, but what about this film was particularly more contrived than other decent prison films? I don't think anything that happened in Cell 211 that was significantly sillier than the likes of Shawshank Redemption or Midnight Express.

It would've been much better off if the character balance amongst the wardens was less simplistic (ie

not just having Utrilla as a pantomine-style villain, showing a more morally compromised nature to the others

) and I'd have happily done without any of the silly flashbacks. For that matter, the last 10-15 minutes were a bit clunky (

from about the point where Calzones slits Utrilla's throat, I suppose

) but what went before was reasonably well-handled.

johnny_ultimate

You're asking the wrong person because Im not the biggest fan of Shawshank :pac: I think A Prophet has been the definitive contemporary prison drama - entertaining but also full of complex themes and ideas handled artfully. Comparisons to it are unfair though, given this is largely mindless entertainment and arguably doesn't pretend otherwise. But the sheer amount of lazy, incredible contrivances is staggering - indeed, it even kicks off with various OTT coincidences. And yet I still saw every character change or narrative twist coming miles off. It imo was just lazy throughout - cheap tricks for equally cheap thrills. Add half arsed direction and a failed attempt at third act ambiguity and you're left with a wholly unremarkable film with a handful of good ideas.

Fysh

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

You're asking the wrong person because Im not the biggest fan of Shawshank :pac: I think A Prophet has been the definitive contemporary prison drama - entertaining but also full of complex themes and ideas handled artfully. Comparisons to it are unfair though, given this is largely mindless entertainment and arguably doesn't pretend otherwise. But the sheer amount of lazy, incredible contrivances is staggering - indeed, it even kicks off with various OTT coincidences. And yet I still saw every character change or narrative twist coming miles off. It imo was just lazy throughout - cheap tricks for equally cheap thrills. Add half arsed direction and a failed attempt at third act ambiguity and you're left with a wholly unremarkable film with a handful of good ideas.

I'm not saying it's the best prison drama going, and as I've not gotten around to watching A Prophet yet I can't really compare the two.

That being said, some specific examples would really help me understand what you're getting at when you say there were too many plot contrivances.

Sad Professor

I must have seen a different film than some of you. It’s certainly no A Prophet, but it is still very entertaining and I found the ending refreshingly different. All films have plot contrivances if you look hard enough. The fact that you are looking at all usually suggests the film didn’t work for you for some other reason.

Then again it’s the summer and grown-up movies are few and far between, so maybe I’m being a bit too forgiving.

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

All films have plot contrivances if you look hard enough. The fact that you are looking at all usually suggests the film didn’t work for you for some other reason.

It's true that one of the great joys of cinema is being able to shall we say 'bend' reality to tell a story. The best directors and writers, though, manage to disguise the incredible bits, or engage you in the story before asking you to just go along with the ride. Here, the problem is there's no time to invest in the situation before it starts getting preposterous. Three very obvious plot contrivances that kept me disengaged:

The opening: I just couldn't get past the sheer amount of coincidences -

first (or the day before first!) day on the job, accidental shotgun incident, prison riot and the new guard being put into a cell (with a flashforward which IMO didn't adequately justify why this happened - maybe the Spanish explains it better?). The situation was just too absurd from the outset.

Malamadre and Calazones (sp?): The central relationship in the film, and IMO a massive problem.

I just couldn't buy that Juan jumped from newbie to right hand man in this amount of time. For Malamadre - clearly a man who has gained a lot of respect amongst his fellow prisoners - to take such an unknown quantity under his wing just rang false - indeed, after his initial 'humiliation', Juan is pretty much second in command :pac:

. Again, kind of shoehorning in a major narrative focus, no matter how incredible it is!

The girlfriend: The biggest sticking point for me.

It takes up so much running time, only to awkwardly steer towards an inevitably catastrophic conclusion that has clearly been coming since the words 'pregnant wife' were first uttered. That she ended up where she was, that the prison wardens wouldn't ensure she wasn't injured, that 'bastard guard' for some reason went out on riot and control, and that a cameraman was conveniently there to broadcast her presence to the tense rioters.

Not to mention that all the background flashback scenes are handled with the subtlety of a kick to the nuts :P

Those three points were three very contrived ones that I simply could not believe, even within the absurdist confines of the film itself. Sure, I had many issues besides them - bland direction, inconsistent performances, a dodgy conclusion, the fact that every twist lacked the element of surprise. But that the whole thing was so silly that I couldn't even invest in it in the first place was the true thing that got in the way of me enjoying this film. Like Anything for Her (another film I disliked, but I know I'm in the minority there) I just felt it was Hollywood excess wrapped up in a subtitled package.

Sad Professor

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The opening: I just couldn't get past the sheer amount of coincidences -

first (or the day before first!) day on the job, accidental shotgun incident, prison riot and the new guard being put into a cell (with a flashforward which IMO didn't adequately justify why this happened - maybe the Spanish explains it better?). The situation was just too absurd from the outset.

I’d accept that the whole plot of film is based on a series of incredible coincidences. But strange coincidences and twists of fate have been the basis of many good films. And if it’s absurd then maybe that’s the point. The film shows how fate conspired in such a way as to condemn Juan to a particular path. It’s a very deterministic film in that sense. I never got the feeling that Juan had any other choice. Whether his reaction to this series of very coincidental external events is believable is more worthy of consideration than whether the events themselves were believable.

Malamadre and Calazones (sp?): The central relationship in the film, and IMO a massive problem.

I just couldn't buy that Juan jumped from newbie to right hand man in this amount of time. For Malamadre - clearly a man who has gained a lot of respect amongst his fellow prisoners - to take such an unknown quantity under his wing just rang false - indeed, after his initial 'humiliation', Juan is pretty much second in command :pac:

. Again, kind of shoehorning in a major narrative focus, no matter how incredible it is!

I didn't have a problem with this.

Juan was new and Malamadre wanted to keep him close because he didn't trust him. This was mentioned in dialogue, I believe. But Juan quickly gained his respect because he was smart and knew how to deal with the negotiators, not because Malamadre inexplicably decided to make him his right-hand man. In fact, he threatened to kill for overstepping his bounds. In reality it might have taken longer for Juan to establish this kind of trust, but they were rioting. Malamadre for all his intelligence was really just playing games with the prison authorities and wasn't prepared when things got more serious. Juan knew exactly how to deal with them.

The girlfriend: The biggest sticking point for me.

It takes up so much running time, only to awkwardly steer towards an inevitably catastrophic conclusion that has clearly been coming since the words 'pregnant wife' were first uttered. That she ended up where she was, that the prison wardens wouldn't ensure she wasn't injured, that 'bastard guard' for some reason went out on riot and control, and that a cameraman was conveniently there to broadcast her presence to the tense rioters.

Not to mention that all the background flashback scenes are handled with the subtlety of a kick to the nuts :P

Yeah, I agree that

the girlfriend getting knocked down and beaten by the bastard guard was somewhat contrived. That something was going to happen to his pregnant girlfriend was fairly predictable, but I didn’t expect her to die. And in fact for a minute I thought the negotiator was lying to him about her being dead in an attempt to manipulate him. As it stands it’s not really made clear what exactly happened to her. I think the writer kinda dropped the ball on this.

johnny_ultimate

I can't deny that many of cinema's finest films have moments where disbelief has to be suspended, and happily concede that plot decisions here worked for you but not for me. Yet I just never felt the payoff justified forcing the audience to accept an increasingly heavy amount of coincidences. While the two films are obviously very different, I can't help but compare it to A Separation. It's another film where the narrative hinges around a major 'inciting incident', but there was handled with careful pacing, well developed characters and heartbreaking resolutions (or lack thereof!). There I was totally compelled by the characters, here I felt very much removed.

Perhaps it's looking way too much into a film that simply attempts to entertain, and it's not the most worthless film I've seen by any stretch! It's just there was little to differentiate itself from your run-of-the-mill siege / prison drama or action thriller. But even within those confines I couldn't suspend disbelief long enough to just go with it.

Maybe I just kept getting distracted by raspy voiced inmate and the crappy music :P

Tallon

Just watched it there, really enjoyed it.

It's a powerful movie