The Sea Inside
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Movie Reviews of The Sea Inside
Movie Review: Powerful Performance From Bardem & A Moving Story
Summary: 5 Stars
MOVIE: Ramon Sampedro has spent the last 30 years of his life confined to his bed after being paralyzed from the neck down. This is the true story of Sampedro, played by Javier Bardem, who faught all his life so that he could commit assisted suicide. The theme of this movie is dignity, and it throws around the idea of how a man who lives in such a state could have any. Even though Ramon has found no reason to live, he affects everyone around him. In one part of the film a woman who wants to befriend Ramon asks him why he's always smiling if he says that he's unhappy. He responds by saying that living the way he does you learn to cry with a smile. In the end, Alejandro Amenabar doesn't force his audience to pick a side over whether it's morally right for a man to commit suicide due a confined state such as Ramon's. Yet, the audience will go on an incredible emotional journey watching Ramon and his family going through these times. Amenabar not only wrote and directed the film, he produced, edited, and composed the score. May I add that the film's score is one of the most beautiful film score's that I have ever heard. If you want to hear a snipet of it then watch the trailer as it uses the score. Overall, the movie is an intense journey through the times of one man's journey to salvage what dignity he has left, and it is a moving journey at that.
ACTING: Javier Bardem is one of my favorite actors, and the transformation he makes to become the aging Sampedro is breathtaking. The audience sees just how big of a transformation it is when the film shows flashbacks of the Ramon's accident where Bardem plays a Sampedro who is 30 years younger. I loved Javier Bardem in The Dancer Upstairs, and some regular movie goers may recognize him from Cllateral. Most of his career has been in Spain and he recently has appeared in some American films. The Sea Inside has my pick for Best Foreign Language Film this year.
BOTTOM LINE: An intense look at dignity in our lives that shows how different people choose to live their lives. I guarantee that anyone who sees this film will be deeply moved.
Movie Review: No emotion left untouched in THE SEA INSIDE
Summary: 5 Stars
BEYOND 5 stars!
Every once in a while a film comes along that is so powerful in it's message,production,direction,cinematography,soundtrack and ensemble acting that it deserves multiple accolades;such is the 2004 Spanish Award winning THE SEA INSIDE (Mar Adentro)from writer/director/soundtrack composer Alejandro Amenabar whose earlier triumph THE OTHERS was a foreshadowing of great things to come.
THE SEA INSIDE is a tour-de-force in film making.The story of Ramon Sampedro, a man who was a quadriplegic for nearly thirty years and confined to a bed in a room,could have been extremely claustrophobic in the hands of less experienced directors and actors,but Amenabar and Javier Bardem as Ramon take this film,it's message and the lead character way beyond the confines of a bedroom and open it up into a glorious triumph and resiliency of the human will to persevere for freedom of conscience and dignity.Ramon wants to die;this is his fight for the right of choice that hit headlines the world over.Ramon has a most unusual quality to inspire greatness and vitality in others, but wants to end the hell that he experiences daily imprisoned in his lifeless body.This film is not preachy,nor does it become a soapbox for pro choice or pro life.All sides are presented fairly and with much thought and sensitivity.Ultimately, the story is one man's personal desire with the issue of euthanasia and Javier Bardem,who recently impressed in GOYA'S GHOSTS (an English speaking role) shows why he is among the top actors in the world today with his transcendent performance in THE SEA INSIDE.
The film is in Spanish.The English subtitles FLY so get ready to read quickly.There is a documentary on the dvd about the writing of the screenplay with Amenabar.It is informationally quite interesting, but it is filmed like reality T.V.
This is a film that will be viewed often for it's numerous aspects of greatness.Highly recommended purchase for the price.
Movie Review: Javier Bardem screen-presence has such a force that you forget that this is fiction.
Summary: 5 Stars
Many more eloquent reviews than this have described the quite spectacular acting, casting and styling of this film. It appears that the only negative reviews focus on a perceived imbalance in the film's handling of the core moral question (euthanasia).
This film is, bar the final scenes, meticulous in stressing Ramon's belief that he's not making some grand point but merely that, for him, a life devoid of dignity is a life not worth living. We, as viewers, see an enormous amount of dignity in his life - we see family and friends and culture and, but for its physical limitations, a life fully lived. Central to the tragedy of this film is that there is really only one person who thinks that Ramon's life is not worth living - and that is him.
To watch this film and say that the only counter argument comes from the visit of a bumbling priest is nonsense. The priest's visit is pure farce, a direct assault on the simplicity of the Spanish Catholic Church's response to the issue of euthanasia. However, the sister's parting words to the priest momentarily expose the powerful 'pro-life' sentiments quietly underpinning the entire film. We are constantly encouraged to see the hope and the beauty of a life lived with love. As the film progresses, we may gradually be encouraged to understand Ramon's reasoning but we are never reconciled to his decision. Outstanding acting by each of the actors, especially unbelievable Javier Bardem. His screen-presence has such a force that you forget that this is fiction. The movie has a wonderful rhythm and directed outstandingly.
This small, quiet, harmonious movie grows into a masterpiece on human dignity. It is intelligently structured, filled with meaningful little details and important side-plots. This is another film which moved me and provoked me at the same time.
Movie Review: Life Examined
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched "The Sea Inside" last night with a minimum of expectations. My interest was based on knowing that it was about a quadriplegic since I am happily married to a quadriplegic woman. By the time the movie was over, I had been thoroughly immersed in an emotionally absorbing drama of a man and his struggles with his physical limitations. In the course of the movie, I became very impressed with the level of character development and the quality of the relationships that emerged in the film. The dialogue was first rate, the acting was superb and the director, well, Alejandro Amenabar was involved in virtually all aspects of the film. I even noticed that he had the lone credit as the Musical Director. This film is a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, "The Sea Inside" leads, for me, to an unwanted conclusion. That does not take anything away from the quality of the film. It's just that I was like Rosa; wanting to explain everything I could to change Ramon's mind (not respecting the fact that he had spent 28 years making this decision). In reality, the quality of the charater and relationship development was the source of the reasons to persevere. Why back out when love is all around you. All viewers will be challenged to judge Ramon's decision but none can honestly deny that "The Sea Inside" gives a pretty comprehensive examination of his wishes.
I thought about "The Sea Inside" and how it compares to Eastwood's "Millian Dollar Baby". I thought "Million Dollar Baby" was a 5 Star film in it's brilliant depiction of Eastwood's character sacrificing everything he believed in to honor his friend's wishes. "The Sea Inside" has that very same scenario but it also has so much more.
Movie Review: Not a dull moment: Another Amenabar and Bardem masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since I saw "Open Your Eyes" and "The Others" I knew I had to see the coming works of Alejandro Amenabar. Also, having followed Javier Bardem since his early days with Bigas Luna and Pedro Almodovar, and after his extraordinary performance in "Before Night Falls", any new project he did was something to be reckoned with. Fate brought Barden and Amenabar together for one of the most touching movies since "Big Fish" (for me at least).
The story of "The Sea Inside" ("Mar Adentro", in Spanish) is based on the life of Ramón Sampedro. His story could be the story of any of us. An unfortunate accident when he was young left him paraplegic for over 30 years. During this time, besides composing some beautiful poetry and dreaming of flying toward the sea while staring out his window, Sampedro battled the system to get permission to have an assisted death (euthanasia). Unbelievable moments abound in the movie, which will shock you, make you cry and make you ponder, such as his statement in response to the Jesuit priest that came to visit him to talk him out of his decision: "Una vida sin libertad, no es una vida." (A life without liberty is not a life).
One thing is for sure. Whether you agree with the statements made in the movie or not, Amenabar has definitely done it again (as the director, co-writer, co-producer and scorer for the movie). And so has Bardem, with a role that easily stands out as the best his done in his life (so far). "The Sea Inside" is without a doubt a masterpiece of modern Spanish cinema.