Unit 7 (2012)

(Contains some minor spoilers.) Grupo 7 (Unit 7) is an unpretentious, warts and all, police drama set in Seville, Spain, during the 1980's and 1990's. It follows a moderately bent group of narcotics detectives who make up unit 7. They are a diverse bunch, all with various personal baggage and mostly tainted ambitions. The drama follows the units efforts to both police and, as they become corrupted, secretly benefit from the burgeoning drug trade. The units public rise to police stardom, as they make bust after bust, is matched by their personal fall from grace, as those policing the drug gangs effectively becomes one. The real message at the core of this film is there are no real winners in the drugs trade. The threat of unit 7 getting caught by their bosses is, in the end, hardly any worse than getting away with it. The groups personal cohesion is destroyed and their personal lives follow suit. A point simply but cleverly made in the final scene. The acting is of a high standard.There are only good performances in this drama. Its downbeat presentation actually makes the casts performance more remarkable, as they have the difficult job of sustaining the guise of ordinary people, faced with extraordinary circumstances. The emotion is raw and this film is, on occasion, touching but always in a rather troubled way. Eight out of ten from me.

In Unit 7, we get an exciting and realistically told police-thriller about a narc police unit made to fight drug traffic in the mid to late eighties, when Sevilla is preparing to host the World exhibition, Expo 1992. Unit 7 is the best group in years, getting big results. We meet a young cop, which clashes with an older, more experienced one.The young cop Angel, played by Mario Casas seems to be the main person here, though he plays against some more experienced Spanish actors. They all do a great job. Casas is charming and believable as a young copper, and holds up the film as a leading actor. Nothing fancy, just plain old police work like it really would happen. However, they use all tricks, and not all of then are written in the police handbook. Young Angelo steals 200 grams of heroin at a bust, so that they can use I to portion it up and plant it on some of those tending to get away. The whole unit are so close to the drug environment, that it is a trust problem on many accounts. Even media starts doubting the reason for the good number of busts they are doing.The film work is good. Exciting to follow, and there's a certain nerve that is catching. I like the action scenes, and the flight scenes, which are effective and raw stuff. The movie is filmed in both colorful moments, as gritty dark bleak moments, depending on what situation we are in. Undoubtedly one of the best Spanish films I've seen!

Flash back to Seville, Spain, in the late 1980s as the city prepares to welcome millions of visitors to Expo '92, The Universal Exposition of Seville. In order to present a modern, safe image to the world, the government wisely decides to try and rid the downtown area of its rampant drug crime. "Unit 7" is created, an elite group of narcotics officers with a mandate to use whatever means necessary to wipe out drug trafficking. Just make sure it's legal and, if not, that nobody finds out.Based on actual events, the original story was penned by Rafael Cobos and Alberto Rodriguez. Cobos developed the screenplay and Rodriguez directed. This is their third collaboration.The four team members, Ángel (Mario Casas), Rafael (Antonio de la Torre), Mateo (Joaquín Núñez), and Miguel (José Manuel Poga), are predictably thrown together with the typical rookie vs. veteran, family man vs. womanizer dynamic that sets up what could be clichéd character arcs. The fact that they're not owes much to Cobos' taut script, to be sure, but the narrative's spark of authenticity is mainly due to the heartfelt performances and obvious on screen chemistry of the actors.Despite its ensemble setup, the star of the film, in reality, is Mario Casas. With his adoring wife, newborn baby, and, of course, a sweet doggie at home, Ángel is the soul of Unit 7, and the story is told primarily through his eyes. He's lit like an angel in a stained glass church window and behaves like one, to boot. It's established from the start that the appropriately and not coincidentally named Ángel, as the most sympathetic character, is the one to watch.His transformation from baby-faced naif to wannabe Clint Eastwood is what the audience expects, and Casas delivers, yet still surprises at many turns. He's a worthy protagonist in an otherwise Central Casting narc squad. Poga, Núñez, and de la Torre do an admirable job as contrasting characters and in comic relief. But without Casas, while this would be a fine project, it would lack the humanity he brings to the story.Technical elements are superb with big budget production values. Single-point lighting is favored in the officers' homes, with soft shadows and a warm color palette bathed in amber, reflecting the safe, comfortable environment they have to look forward to at the end of the day. Stark street exteriors are cold and pushed blue, mirroring the vulnerability and harsh reality of the workplace where there's little safety and notorious drug gangs lurk around every corner.Julio de la Rosa's incessantly pounding score perfectly matches the brutally fast-paced action. When the "drug bust theme" kicks in you know there's some major whuppin' about to go down.Cinematographer Alex Catalán sticks to stationary tripod shots in the characters' "safe places," at home and at the police station. As the action moves outdoors and into the streets, the camera-work phases into Steadicam and hand-held. The action sequences are filled with heartstopping crane and helicopter shots, along with a copious amount of hand-held closeups, coordinated to the throbbing drug bust theme. There's a grainy grindhouse feel to these scenes which is evocative of the thrilling police dramas of the 70s. Never lost is the breathtaking landscape of the city and its beautiful surroundings, captured elegantly in Catalán's lens as a loving postcard from Seville.This Spanish entry in an otherwise well-worn genre could have been formulaic but, with passionate performances and Cobos' smart and witty script, it remains focused and compelling. "Unit 7" is a gritty, gripping action thriller that runs on all cylinders.

The city of Seville was about to celebrate the 1992 Universal Expo when a unit of police tried to clean the city of drugs with some controversial methods.The movie describe perfectly the environment of the oppressed neighborhood in the south of Spain and the behavior of the people.Very good performances by side actors and a great directing, a chance to know a different side of the Spanish films.The star Mario Casas usually play the same old role of the charming guy in commercial teenage movies or TV shows but this is not a bad start to a more important career.