Unit 7

Spain submitted this action/thriller (English captions) to the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival. "Grupo 7" begins in Seville, 1987, as the city starts preparations for the 1992 World Expo. From archival footage we see bridges and many other projects under construction. We are in the middle of a police chase which looks for all the world like parkour, my favorite in-city sport. I'll take it over vehicular mayhem any day!

When the suspects are apprehended, the four-man police team handcuffs the criminals and gathers the evidence. One bag of heroin is secreted by one cop, although all four are complicit. After brutally beating a snitch, these four policemen find a perfect source of information and become the premiere law-enforcement team in the city, uncovering more drugs, arresting more crooks and solving more crimes than any other. Problem is, they are now victims of a creeping corruption that drives their ambi- tions, enhances their bankrolls and disturbs their sleep.

Each year leading up to the 1992 Expo, we watch the progress made by Seville via archival footage, while we also monitor the changing dyna- mics of our fearless foursome. As we may expect, internal strife starts to rear its ugly head, as does greed, affection for the ladies, plus the esca- lating diabetes suffered by one cop.

We know the criminal element in Seville is aware of the corruption because one cop's dog is set on fire as a warning; more importantly there is a scene where the cops are lured into the inner city that you won't soon forget.

The award-winning cinematography treats us to many Seville cityscapes both beautiful and crude while displaying a clear narrative by Director Alberto Rodriguez.