Miracle in Cell No. 7

Back in February, Netflix starting publishing a list to recognize its most popular movies and TV series.  Recently a 2019 production from Turkey somehow crept into the streaming service’s Top 10.  Miracle in Cell No. 7 is a remake of a 2013 South Korean film.   History has shown it to be a crowd-pleasing story.   The original also spawned Philippine and Indonesian versions as well.  However, the Turkish version is the adaptation that became a hit with Netflix audiences.

The drama concerns a father named Memo (Aras Bulut Iynemli) with an intellectual disability who has a young daughter named Ova (Nisa Sofiya Aksongur).  He’s wrongly implicated in the death of another little girl.  This was the daughter of a high ranking official and so the penalty is death.  He is sent to jail before his eventual hanging.  Ova is now being raised by Memo’s grandmother.  Actress Celile Toyon Uysal is quite compelling in that role.  Separated — Ova desperately wants to reunite with her dad, but more importantly, can Memo prove his innocence before he is executed?

Miracle in Cell 7 is a melodramatic feature that I suspect more jaded viewers will eschew because of its conspicuous sentimentality.  I was reminded of two previous works: Life Is Beautiful and I Am Sam.  If you appreciate those movies, there’s no reason to even question whether to see this.  You will enjoy because it’s cut from the same cloth.  There’s also a scene where Memo is coerced into signing a confession for something he didn’t do.  I immediately thought of In the Name of the Father.  That outstanding film is significantly more understated but I’ll give director Mehmet Ada Öztekin and writers Özge Efendioglu and Kubilay Tat a lot of credit.  They are referencing from the very best.

Miracle in Cell 7 creatively draws on a variety of inspirations to engage the emotions.  The screenplay is so overt in its intention to cull emotion.  In that respect, it’s extremely manipulative.  Some may resist its more obvious charms.  Yet the presentation is rather poetic.  There is a choice one particular prisoner decides to make near the end and it honestly touched me.  I got caught up in the emotional stakes.  The father/daughter relationship is key, but many of the side characters in the prison make an impression as well.  This is a portrait of humanity.  The film’s ability to consistently make people cry has currently fueled a shared cultural experience on social media.  The spirit of our age has embraced this flick.  I can understand why it captured the attention of the nation.  The tale is an uplifting piece of entertainment, especially in these uncertain times.

03-30-20