''Unit 7'' ( es, Grupo 7, links=no) is a 2012 Spanish crime drama action thriller directed by Alberto Rodríguez. It was written by Rafael Cobos and Alberto Rodríguez and stars Antonio de la Torre and

Mario Casas Mario Casas Sierra (born 12 June 1986) is a Spanish actor. He rose to fame in Spain with the television series ''Los hombres de Paco'' (2007-2010), and later in the film '' Three Steps Above Heaven'' (2010). Early life and education Casas was ...

. The film was nominated for 16

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...

General description and themes

This atmospheric piece is set in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

in the four years leading up to the 1992 Universal Exposition of Seville. It dramatizes the social changes experienced by the city in a major "before" and "after" the World Expo, honing in on the process of cleaning up the city, eliminating the drug dealing from the streets in preparation for the World Expo, from the point of view of four (and particularly two) police officers comprising the (fictitious) Unit 7, renowned for their exaggeratedly elevated drug bust rate. The film discusses the concept of the end justifying the means, focusing on themes of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

, police violence, the psychology behind the figures carrying it out, and the politics (embodied by the police chief and unseen politicians) giving them carte blanche to do so, while washing their hands of the dirty deeds, condemning their actions when scandals break and condoning them when major drug busts are successful. It also describes life in some of the (formerly) more sordid neighborhoods or

slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

of Seville, as well as the sense of community displayed by some of their inhabitants when they decide to fight back against. All of this is portrayed with the backdrop of the ginormous construction work being undertaken to build the World Expo grounds on the outskirts of the city, shown as an enormous, bulldozed wasteland with no construction ever being seen in action but rather idle machinery and only marginally built bridges and buildings. It shows the police officers as people, where it is not so clear where right ends and wrong begins, people who are being both exceedingly brutal, and yet sometimes expressing great tenderness or love, and it shows how the group of four feeds from one another in an escalation of violence in the name of eliminating the drug scourge. The director states that the movie could also be seen as "the rise and fall of a band of gangsters, only our gangsters are on this side of the law".

Plot

Unit 7 has a tough assignment: to clean the most dangerous drug trafficking networks out of the city and bring an end to the corrosive power that has taken hold of the streets. A detail of four, the unit is led by Ángel, a young officer aspiring to the rank of detective, and Rafael, a violent, arrogant, yet efficient cop. But Unit 7's modus operandi is slipping outside the bounds of the law through their use of violence, coercion, lies and half-truths. For them, anything goes. As they gain ground in their mission, the two officers head in opposite directions. Angel takes the path of ambition and police excess while Rafael will begin to change as a result of his feelings for beautiful, enigmatic Lucia.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Atípica Films, La Zanfoña and Sacromonte Films and it had the participation and support of

Canal Sur Televisión Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this region by an Act of Parliament in its statute of autono ...

TVE TVE may stand for: Television * Televisión Española, a Spanish state-owned public-service television broadcaster ** TVE HD, a high-definition channel run by Televisión Española * Televisão Educativa, a defunct Brazilian TV network * TV Eduk ...

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, AXN, Audiovisual SGR,

Junta de Andalucía The Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Junta de Andalucía) is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31. ...

ICO is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ued ...

and ICAA.

Release

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Intl. España, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 4 April 2012. It also screened on 20 April 2012 at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

(TFF) in New York.

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "5" align = "center" , 2012 , , rowspan=2, 2012 Tribeca Film Festival , , Best Cinematography - Special Jury Mention , , Alex Catalán , , , - , Best Narrative Feature , Alberto Rodríguez , , - , 2012 Turia Awards , Special Award , Alberto Rodríguez , , - , rowspan=2, Neox Fan Awards 2012 , Best Spanish film , , , - , Best Spanish film actress , Inma Cuesta , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "34" , 2013 , , rowspan = "2" , 18th

Forqué Awards The Forqué Awards or José María Forqué Awards ( es, Premios Forqué, links=no, also ) are film and television awards presented by the association of audiovisual producers , honoring the best of Spanish cinema and television. History Create ...

, , colspan = "2" ,

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Actor , , Antonio de la Torre , , , - , rowspan = "10" , 68th CEC Medals , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "10" , , - , Best Director , , Alberto Rodríguez , , , - , Best Actor , , Antonio de la Torre , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Julián Villagrán , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Alex Catalán , , , - , Best Editing , , José M. G. Moyano , , , - , Best Score , , Julio de la Rosa , , , - , Best New Actor , , Joaquín Núñez , , , - , Best New Actress , , Estefanía de los Santos , , , - , rowspan=16,

27th Goya Awards The 27th Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on February 17, 2013 to honour the best in Spanish films of 2012. Comedian Eva Hache was the master of ceremonies for the second year in a row. Nominees were an ...

, , colspan = "2" ,

, , , , rowspan = "16" , , - , Best Director , Alberto Rodríguez , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

, Rafael Cobos and Alberto Rodríguez , , - ,

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

, Antonio de la Torre , , - , Best Supporting Actor , Julián Villagrán , , - , Best New Actor , Joaquín Núñez , , - , Best New Actress , Estefanía de los Santos , , - , Best Original Score , Julio de la Rosa , , - , Best Production Supervision , Manuela Ocón , , - , Best Cinematography , Álex Catalán , , - , Best Art Direction , Pepe Domínguez del Olmo , , - , Best Costume Design , Fernando García , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , Yolanda Piña , , - , Best Editing , José M. G. Moyano , , - , Best Sound , Daniel de Zayas Ramírez, Nacho Royo-Villanova, Pelayo Gutiérrez , , - , Best Special Effects , Juan Ventura , , - , rowspan = "3" ,

22nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 22nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards ceremony was held on 3 June 2013 at the Teatro Coliseum in Madrid. The gala was directed by and hosted by Javier Botet, Raúl Jiménez, and David Pareja. In addition to the competitive awards Ada Cola ...

, , Best Film Actor in a Leading Role , , Antonio de la Torre , , , , rowspan = "3" , , - , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Julián Villagrán , , , - , Best Film Actor in a Minor Role , , Alfonso Sánchez , ,

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1924277, Grupo 7
Grupo 7
on ''La Higuera'' (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

)
"Especial Premios Goya. 'Fuimos una máquina contra la droga'"
("Goya Awards Special: 'We were a machine against drugs'"), interviews with Seville officers active during the time the film was set, Quino Petit, ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'', 29 April 2012 (in

). ccessed 6 June 2017 2012 films 2012 crime action films Spanish crime action films 2010s Spanish-language films Films set in the 1990s Films directed by Alberto Rodríguez Librero Historical action films Films set in Seville Atípica Films films 2010s Spanish films