Unit 7

Unit 7
Unit 7
	Theatrical release poster
Spanish	Grupo 7
Directed by	Alberto Rodríguez
Screenplay by	Rafael Cobos
Story by	Rafael Cobos; Alberto Rodríguez;
Produced by	Gervasio Iglesias; José Antonio Félez
Starring	Antonio de la Torre; Mario Casas; Inma Cuesta;
Cinematography	Alex Catalán
Edited by	José M. G. Moyano
Music by	Julio de la Rosa
Production; companies	Atípica Films; La Zanfoña Producciones; Sacromonte Films;
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	4 April 2012;
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	€3,500,000
Box office	$2,924,251 (Spain)

Unit 7 (Spanish: Grupo 7) 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. The film was nominated for 16 Goya Awards.

General description and themes

This atmospheric piece is set in Seville, Andalusia 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, 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 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".^[1]

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

Antonio de la Torre as Rafael^[2]
Mario Casas as Ángel^[2]
Joaquín Núñez [es] as Mateo^[2]
José Manuel Poga as Miguel^[2]
Julián Villagrán as Joaquín
Inma Cuesta as Elena^[2]
Lucía Guerrero [es] as Lucía^[2]
Estefanía de los Santos as La Caoba
Pedro Cervantes as Eulogio
Alfonso Sánchez as Amador

Production

The film was produced by Atípica Films, La Zanfoña and Sacromonte Films and it had the participation and support of Canal Sur Televisión, TVE, Canal+, AXN, Audiovisual SGR, Junta de Andalucía, ICO and ICAA.^[3]

Release

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Intl. España, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 4 April 2012.^[3]^[4]

It also screened on 20 April 2012 at the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) in New York.

Accolades


Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2012	2012 Tribeca Film Festival	Best Cinematography - Special Jury Mention	Alex Catalán	Won
	2012 Tribeca Film Festival	Best Narrative Feature	Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
	2012 Turia Awards	Special Award	Alberto Rodríguez	Won
	Neox Fan Awards 2012	Best Spanish film		Nominated
	Neox Fan Awards 2012	Best Spanish film actress	Inma Cuesta	Nominated
2013	18th Forqué Awards	Best Film		Nominated	^[5]
	18th Forqué Awards	Best Actor	Antonio de la Torre	Nominated	^[5]
	68th CEC Medals	Best Film		Nominated	^[6]^[7]
		Best Director	Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
		Best Actor	Antonio de la Torre	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Julián Villagrán	Won
		Best Original Screenplay	Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Alex Catalán	Nominated
		Best Editing	José M. G. Moyano	Nominated
		Best Score	Julio de la Rosa	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Joaquín Núñez	Won
		Best New Actress	Estefanía de los Santos	Nominated
	27th Goya Awards	Best Film		Nominated	^[8]^[9]
		Best Director	Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
		Best Original Screenplay	Rafael Cobos and Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
		Best Actor	Antonio de la Torre	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Julián Villagrán	Won
		Best New Actor	Joaquín Núñez	Won
		Best New Actress	Estefanía de los Santos	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Julio de la Rosa	Nominated
		Best Production Supervision	Manuela Ocón	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Álex Catalán	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Pepe Domínguez del Olmo	Nominated
		Best Costume Design	Fernando García	Nominated
		Best Makeup and Hairstyles	Yolanda Piña	Nominated
		Best Editing	José M. G. Moyano	Nominated
		Best Sound	Daniel de Zayas Ramírez, Nacho Royo-Villanova, Pelayo Gutiérrez	Nominated
		Best Special Effects	Juan Ventura	Nominated
	22nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Leading Role	Antonio de la Torre	Won	^[10]
		Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role	Julián Villagrán	Won
		Best Film Actor in a Minor Role	Alfonso Sánchez	Won

References

^ See the Director's Notes on La Higuera (in Spanish), which are more elegant and intelligent than this summary.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Holland, Jonathan (3 April 2012). "Unit 7". Variety.
^ ^a ^b "'Grupo 7' recauda un millón de euros en su primera semana en cines y acudirá al Festival Tribeca de Nueva York". 20minutos.es. 12 April 2012.
^ Maldivia, Beatriz (10 April 2012). "'Grupo 7', violencia policial con sabor auténtico". Espinof.
^ Belinchón, Gregorio (22 January 2013). "'Blancanieves' gana en la 18ª edición de los Premios Forqué". El País.
^ "'Grupo 7', 'El mundo es nuestro' y el sevillano Fernando Franco, premiados por el Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos". 20minutos.es. 12 February 2013.
^ "Nominaciones a las Medallas CEC 2012". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^ "Lista de nominados a los premios Goya 2013". El Confidencial. 8 January 2013.
^ "Grupo 7". premiosgoya.com. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^ "Maribel Verdú y Antonio de la Torre reciben el Premio de la Unión de Actores y Actrices". RTVE. 3 June 2013.

External links

Grupo 7 at IMDb
Grupo 7 on La Higuera (in Spanish)
"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, 29 April 2012 (in Spanish). [Accessed 6 June 2017].