The Sea Inside
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Movie Reviews of The Sea Inside
Movie Review: Monumental Film of the Highest Caliber
Summary: 5 Stars
THE SEA INSIDE (MAR ADENTRO) is, for this reviewer, simply one of the most powerful films ever made. Director Alejandro Amenabar (with co-writer with Mateo Gil) has created a work of such power and beauty that surely it will capture all of the highest awards for which it is nominated.
Based on the life of Spanish writer Ramon Sampedro, a man who at age 26 suffered a broken neck from a dive into the sea with subsequent quadriplegia, the story is about life and the sanctity of the gift of being a whole person. Sampedro lay for nearly thirty years in a bed, able move only his head, requiring assistance for every bodily function except his richly gifted brain and verbal communication - which he was able to transpose to the written word by means of an ingenious pencil/stick held in his teeth. Having lived the life of a world traveler, a free spirit who chose to squeeze all the beauty of living from his participation in the world, Sampedro finds himself at the mercy of those who attend him and it is his wish to end his life with dignity: he searches for someone who will help him and love him enough to assist his longed for suicide.
The major debate over euthanasia or assisted suicide may be the apparent message of this miraculous film, but in the hands of Amenabar and particularly in the profoundly empathetic and multifaceted performance of Javier Bardem as Ramon, THE SEA INSIDE is far more importantly a paean to the joy of living life to its fullest measure. Ramon, despite his frustrated attempts to convince the courts that he should be allowed to die with dignity, is more concerned with touching the lives and hearts of those with whom he comes into contact. He lives with his older brother Jose (Celso Bugallo) who adamantly opposes Ramon's wishes to die, his caretaker sister-in-law Manuela (Mabel Rivera) who supports him physically and spiritually, his father Joaquin (Joan Dalmau), and his nephew Javi (Tamar Novas). Into this warm home Ramon's pleas for assistance bring Gene (Clara Segura) and Marc (Francesc Garrido) who aid his cause and engage a lawyer Julia (Belen Pueda), herself afflicted with a degenerative disease that leaves her with a partially paralyzed leg. Manuela shows Julia Ramon's poetry and upon reading the poems Julia realizes he must be published - and that she is falling in love with Ramon.
One very simple person (Rosa - played by Lola Duenas) hears about Ramon's plight on a television interview and pledges herself to change Ramon's view of living. She visits him, beings him the simplicity of her heart, cares for him and tries to convince him that he should choose life over death. Ramon's answer to his insight that Rosa is falling in love with him is to inform her that the person who truly loves him will help him exit the world with dignity.
The span of the film takes over a year of the interplay of these people with Ramon's one wish and that wish becomes a cause celebre in Spain, even to the point of Padre Francisco (Jose Maria Pou), himself a quadriplegic, making a house call to present the Church's stance on euthanasia - a discourse separated by too steep stairs that is one of the more comical highlights of the story! After failures in the courts and in convincing his family to assist him, Rosa ultimately comes to Ramon's rescue and it is this final journey that exemplifies the radiance of this film's achievement.
Javier Bardem has become one of the finest, most sensitive, technically brilliant and intelligent actors on the screen today. His performance is nothing short of miraculous: how this actor can create such a compleat character when all he has to use is his facial expression, his eyes, and his eloquent voice goes beyond any expectation a viewer might have. Likewise, the work of the entire cast is not only the best ensemble acting achievable, but each of these gifted actors has created richly faceted performances that are utterly amazing. Here is some of the finest acting you'll likely see in any film from any country.
The cinematography captures both the claustrophobia of Ramon's Galician house and his visions/dreams of taking flight out his window to embrace his beloved sea. The musical score is by Amenabar with a little help from Wagner, Mozart, and Puccini. This is one of those rare films when the audience sits stunned and tearful while the credits roll at the end, not wanting to leave the aura of the experience. There is much to admire and to absorb in this brilliant film. Were there 10 stars to award it, that would be the ranking. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
Movie Review: Another Knockout Bardem Performance Ignites Euthanasia Film
Summary: 5 Stars
With his outsize facial features and unremitting soulfulness, Javier Bardem is a supremely adroit actor, who reminds me quite a bit of a mid-century Anthony Quinn in that they share chameleonic abilities and earthy charisma. As he proved with his stunning portrayal of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in 2001's "Before Night Falls", Bardem can bring resonance to a real-life character and imbue him with a palpable humanistic spirit. In this film, he plays quadriplegic Ramón Sampedro, who traveled the world in his youth as a seaman and then suffered a tragic dive off a cliff which left him paralyzed. For thirty years, Sampedro's brother and sister-in-law took care of him on their farm in Galicia, and his one unresolved wish is to die with dignity rather than face another day not being able to move anything more than his head. The controversial issue of euthanasia has been addressed numerous times, most recently in Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby". It continues to be a hot topic stateside, but perhaps because of its Spanish perspective, director/writer Alejandro Amenábar has fashioned a story that seems less issue-oriented and more about how Sampedro infused those around him with a transformative sense of life's possibility. There is something quite profound about this subtly observed irony, and Amenábar, along with co-writer Mateo Gil, seems intent on challenging us to share Sampedro's single-minded perspective while empathizing with the increasing grief his loved ones feel for his approaching loss.
Bardem is a wonder as usual, as he convincingly portrays a man in his mid-fifties who can only show his emotions from the neck up, especially through his large expressive eyes, yet you get a charged sense of the life-force that fed his curiosity about the world and his love of the sea. An excellent make-up job by Jo Allen is only part of it, as he gets deep under the skin of Sampedro. Belén Rueda poignantly plays his soul-mate Julia, the beautiful lawyer who is battling her own serious illness while helping Sampedro prepare his case to challenge the anti-euthanasia laws. She is hired because he believes she will be especially sympathetic to his cause, which proves true to a degree that makes her seriously examine her own fate. There is a lovely fantasy scene when Sampedro gets to his feet, and then the camera takes his perspective of running toward the window and flying out the window across the countryside to meet Julia on the beach where they passionately embrace. This is all done to the accompaniment of Puccini's ''Nessun dorma", and Amenábar miraculously bypasses contrivance to achieve something transcendent. As Rosa, the young single mother who becomes infatuated with Sampedro when she sees him on TV, Lola Dueñas (the nurse from Almodóvar's "Talk to Her") provides an effective common-folk counterpoint to Julia, and the story has us wonder which woman will eventually help Sampedro with the final deed. They are almost yin and yang to Sampedro - Julia is cool and glamorous, while Rosa is talkative and needy. His immediate family is equally torn about Sampedro's decision, and Mabel Rivera stands out as Sampedro's selfless, attentive sister-in-law. Clara Segura also shines as Gené, a pro-choice activist who dances the precipitous line between personal and professional with alternate strokes of alacrity and regret. Credit also needs to go to cinematographer Javier Aguierresarobe, who seems to bathe the movie in subtle lights and colors to match the varying moods of each scene.
The extras on the DVD include a Spanish-language commentary track by Amenábar, which unfortunately has not been translated into English. I suppose it's a marketing reality that the DVD cover (movie poster), as well as the main menu and movie trailer included in the package, all highlight the youthful Bardem from the brief flashback scenes of his pre-accident existence. Regardless, there are three valuable deleted scenes of which I think one, "Julia Changes Her Mind", should have been reinstated to better understand her character's ambiguity toward the end of the film. There is a comprehensive making-of documentary which I found fascinating, in particular, for Bardem's intensive preparation for the role and the touching video footage of the real Sampedro. Amenábar has made a deeply provocative film provided light and gravitas by a searing Bardem. Strongly recommended.
Movie Review: Life, Ethics, and a Personal Choice ...
Summary: 5 Stars
This story is about a couragous man, Ramon Sampedro, who became a quadraplegic due to a diving accident. 28 years later he choses to end his life because he can no longer live imprisoned in a useless body. He is tired of depending on others and yet he loves his family and those around him who did so much to make his life meaningful. Initially, he hires a lawyer to bring his case to court, to try to end his life legally. His lawyer is a woman, Julia, who has a disability which the viewer later learns is a chronic debilitating heart condition. She empathizes with Ramon's situation and begins to appreciate his finer qualities as she delves into his past and how it affects him when disabled. She wants to understand him as a total human being, not just a person with a handicap. Ramon also develops a relationship with another woman named Rose, who learns of his plight and visits him often. She becomes the person who perhaps comes closest to meeting his emotional needs ...
The film is shot artistically and realistically ... Alejandro Amendabar, the film producer, director, and creater of the musical score did a fabulous job of making a film which tackles a difficult subject - euthanasia. He made a film which shows the dignity of a human being who had a serious health problem, who made a conscious decision which few around him could accept. The personality of Ramon shines within this film. Javier Bardem plays Ramon showing a person who has a sense of humor as well as all human traits. Most amazing is how Javier Bardem holds his body stiffly, keeps his hands contracted, and his back arched, looking exactly like a paralyzed person. The views outside Ramon's window are stunning ... When he daydreams of flying and having a fully functioning body, the scenery of the mountains, streams, and shoreline of the beach are spectacular.
The ethics and conflicts which Ramon faces are felt by his family and everyone associated with his case. Julia and her assistant review the current laws and recognize the challenges which they will be facing when his case is brought to court. They want Ramon to go before the judges and explain his views ... believing in person he may sway them to understand his plight. Ramon has not been outside for many years and hates wheelchairs. Yet he sees this may be his best option to achieve his goal. He makes design alterations to his wheelchair which his family builds for him. He goes to court, the cameras are rolling ... His lawyers plead his case but the judges on a legal technicality, deny Ramon any time to speak. His request to die with dignity at a time of his choosing becomes the top news on television, the radio and in the newspapers ... A Catholic priest who is also paralyzed and in a wheelchair presents the case for life and surmizes before the cameras that perhaps Ramon has not received enough love from his family and is looking for this ... Manuela, his sister-in-law who has cared for Ramon during most of his paralysis is offended and hurt by the priest's allegations. She gets a chance to confront him, when the priest makes a visit to discuss Ramon's decision with him personally ... Ramon is confronted by his brother who adamantly states, that as head of the family, he will not allow anyone to kill himself in his house. The emotional toll of his decision on the family is shown fully and with sensitivity. It happens that at the end Ramon chooses to leave his home with one of his women friends to visit a seaside resort. This is where his final days are spent.
The point of the film was to present life as it is lived from the POV of Ramon a paraplegic who is totally dependent on others. The whole idea was that in a mainly Catholic society (Spain) there was ONE person who stood *against* the majority (who believed it is a sin to commit suicide). He was trapped in a paraplegic body and wanted OUT. His family showed they loved/cared/sacrificed for him, no matter how it affected themselves and how it strained their relationships. At times, they were at emotional breaking points. The film was so outstanding I can not say enough about it. I had tears in my eyes often throughout the film. My highest recommendations. Be prepared to use up several boxes of tissues ...
Erika Borsos (pepper flower)
Movie Review: To live and die with dignity!
Summary: 5 Stars
This film that deserved with all the possible honors the Prize as Best Foreign Film deals with a delicate and very personal ethic crossroad: Can you decide your lifetime under these awful and painful conditions?
Obviously the omnipresence of the death is a motive of fear and anguish for a great number of human beings. But my personal reflection is this: the death is the last stage of your life, so I think it's better to re formulate the question for another one. The real important aspect is how have you lived? and not focuse exclusively in how you will die. We are in the world for living and doing everything what we can make, according our natural gifts and talents: the rest of the issue has no importance. If you have had the opportunity to follow your bliss what's the problem with dying in an early age?. I consider it's better to live a short life and productive instead a long life and improductive.
So in this point I believe you must respect the personal decision of every person to turn off the light of his private existence under these horrible conditions.
All the ethic considerations seem obvious while you are from the other side of the issue. It is so easy to judge the outer decisions arguing words but Do you think it is enough to talk and only for a just moment to assume his terrible position?.
Amenabar built a supreme film where he presents a huge portrait about the different ethic positions; the beloved brother who denies the final solution arguing his point of view, till his lovely lawyer who will suffer a secure death.
San Pedro is clearer about that issue than many of us. He got and tried to exhibit all the possible arguments and was not heard at all under legal circumstances. The discussion among the priest and Bardem is one the highlight issues of the film.
Javier Bardem at this time is one of the best five actors in the Cinema world. His facial expressions are a real master class for all the acting students and the rest of the audience. His face is a real rainbow which shows all the possible frecuencies in what anima concerns.
What was the unexpainable reason which avoided he was not nominated for the Academy Award by this acting? Because if you argue the theme is delicate I could remember you the Academy Award to Hanks by Philadelphia for instance, or the most recent Prize to Benigni in Life is beautiful and Adrian Brody for the Pianist. Anyway, the past now belongs to the story and this default will never hide the astonishing presence and sublime performance of this talented actor who caught with admirable eloquence the personal tragedy of a sensitive and extraordinary human being.
The rest of the cast worked out to perfection level. There is no any fissure, and the edition and photograph are simply overwhelming.
This is a masterpiece film and being Alejandro Amenábar a very young film maker, it would be risky to affirm this is his masterpiece, but if not it will be one of the three major achievements in his promising career.
An artistic triumph all the way!
Movie Review: The ultimate opting out
Summary: 5 Stars
The rule of thumb is that Life is preferable to Death. But, on your mental scale, what value judgement would tip the balance towards the latter? THE SEA INSIDE is a forceful, emotive and sympathetic examination of assisted suicide. It's not a film for those seeking the usual Saturday afternoon pabulum of Hollywood escapism. And for those that believe that opting out of Life is never an option, it will likely be infuriating.
In a Oscar-worthy performance, Javier Bardem plays Ramón Sampedro, the Spanish poet who became a quadriplegic at age 26 when he dove into shallow waters and broke his cervical spine. In THE SEA INSIDE, it's now almost three decades later, and Sampedro is spending the last two years of his life petitioning the conservative Spanish government for the right to die with dignity via an assisted suicide. The film is an extraordinarily well acted piece by all members of the cast.
The family that cares for Ramón 24/7 includes his older brother José (Celso Bugallo), his brother's wife Manuela (Mabel Rivera), his father Germán (Alberto Jimenéz), and his nephew Javi (Tamar Novas). Besides the dedicated Manuela, who loves Ramón like a son, there are three other extraordinary women in his life: Julia (Belén Rueda, in her acting debut), the lawyer who handles Sampedro's legal case and who has a secret of her own, Gené (Clara Segura), the representative of a national right-to-die organization, and Rosa (Lola Dueñas), the single, working mother of two that just stopped in to say hello to the invalid and ends up adoring him. Indeed, the large number of caring females in Sampedro's stunted life yields perhaps the film's only trace of humor. When jealousies simmer among the gentler sex, Ramón discovers that he has women problems.
In emotional intensity, THE SEA INSIDE transcends that other recent award-winning film about assisted suicide, THE BARBARIAN INVASION (2003). At mid-point, in a sequence of devastating power, the camera becomes a window on Sampedro's fantasy that he can leave his bed. At another time, Ramón's bedridden helplessness is contrasted to the virile, active young man he once was through a series of old photographs examined by Julia. And the visual presentation throughout is mated to a dynamite soundtrack (that I'll definitely purchase!).
This production is Spain's entry into the 2004 Academy Award competition for Best Foreign Film. If it doesn't walk away with that golden statue, then I certainly want to see the film that does.
THE SEA INSIDE makes a strong case for voluntary Death with Dignity for those wishing that escape. It's certainly controversial, as evidenced by the Web sites attacking its stance. If you're looking for an intelligent, thought-provoking, sobering experience - I hesitate to use the word "entertainment" - see it as soon as it's released. It will likely remain in the artsy theaters and not go into wide distribution.