Prison 77 (Modelo 77)
Directed by Alberto Rodríguez
Starring Miguel Herrán, Javier Gutiérrez, Jesús Carroza, Xavi Mira, Xavi Sáez
In Spanish with English subtitles
In cinemas as part of the Spanish Film Festival

Spain went through a painful transition out of fascism after the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in 1975. In the period up to the declaration of the new constitution in December 1978 there was a growing mass struggle pushing for democratic rights that was met with varying levels of repression.

Prisoners inside Franco’s oppressive prison system were part of the struggle. Organised into La Coordinadora de Presos en Lucha (COPEL), a prisoners’ rights union, they waged a daring fight.

Prison 77 is a fictionalised depiction of their heroism.

The story unfolds from the perspective of Manuel (Miguel Herrán), a naïve accountant, guilty of a minor fraud, who discovers himself to be the fall guy for the better-connected, bourgeois organisers behind his crime. The injustice of that class divide is accentuated by the brutality of the fascist guards who control the prison he finds himself in.

The film is a tale in three acts: a depiction of the unjust structure within the prison, the struggle of the COPEL and a final, suspense-filled denouement.

Manuel meets and is befriended by El Negro (Jesús Carroza), who guides him around the pitfalls of prison life. He also encounters Pino (Javier Gutiérrez), a long-term prisoner who copes by cutting himself off from relationships and any thought of the future.

Ramon (Xavi Mira) and Boni (Xavi Sáez) reach out to Manuel after he starts individually confronting the guards, demanding his rights. They are clandestinely forming the COPEL and want to utilise his skills.

In October 1977 political prisoners received amnesty and were released. The remaining, common criminals demanded similar amnesty.

COPEL argued that many people were either framed up by the Francoist police or were driven to crime by Francoist social injustice.

Harrowingly depicted in the film, the prisoners forced authorities to allow the media into the prison by slashing their arms and refusing medial treatment. They went to the edge of death before their demand was granted.

With media exposure, supportive progressive lawyers and a growing mass movement outside the prisons supporting them, COPEL organised more protests. They stormed the prison rooftop and battled it out with riot police below with bricks.

In Prison 77, we see initially cynical prisoners slowly evolve into at first COPEL supporters, then leaders. The mass movement transforms them.

The film does not flinch from showing the ongoing fascist violence of the guards. COPEL activists endured torture and even death.

Prison 77 is both troubling and uplifting as it shows extraordinary courage in the face of fascist brutality.