The Sea Inside

 

 

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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.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 2004, The Sea Inside is a fact-based story of Ramón Sampedro, a quadriplegic man who petitions the Spanish government for his right to die. Without the use of his body for 27 years, Sampedro desires above all else the right to be euthanized. His story is taken on by an association that goes by the name of "Die with Dignity" which is how he has a voice in court.

The story begins as a lawyer comes to Ramón to learn his story. She has taken the case pro bono to get his wish to die granted by the courts. This is the first person we see him encounter that tries to understand him; she is not the last.

Through these meetings we see how truly remarkeable Sampedro really is. We see the devices he has invented to assist him in his situation. We see the poetry his heart has poured out over the years. We are party to conversations in which he explains life and freedom of choice, he talks of a future he hopes not to have. Every person he communicates with is so deeply moved by him; it is humbling to see the effect one man may have on others.

Director Alejandro Amenábar (Open Your Eyes, The Others) brings to life this story of a man enslaved to his body. The movie is set in the house Ramón refuses to leave, though we see incredible landscape shots and are taken on an amazing ride as Sampedro jumps out of his two story window and flies all the way to the beach. Through his eyes we see how he lingers over the blue-green water. To this former sailor, the sea represents that which gave him life and ultimately took it away.

The only thing worse than your son dying before you...is him wanting to. -Joaquín Sampedro (Ramón's father)

This was an absolutely beautiful movie. Try as I may to exercise my vocabulary, I keep ending up with the word "beautiful" to describe The Sea Inside. This heart wrenching tale offers various perspectives on both life and death. If you have ever taken the time to consider either, and even if you have not, this movie will be special to you. And I will warn you that there are a few times in the movie when not crying seems unthinkable. I cannot help the feeling that in seeing this movie in the theater last night I was a part of something important. I look forward to the DVD release on May 17, 2005.

"The Sea Inside" is the true story of Ramón Sampedro, a quadriplegic whose petition for the right to kill himself brought his cause to the public eye in Spain in the 1990s. When the movie opens, Ramón (Javier Bardem) has been paralyzed from the neck down for 26 years, the victim of a diving accident in 1968. He lives in his bed, in his brother's home, surrounded by books, music, and one window, taken care of by his sister-in-law Manuela (Mabel Rivera). Ramón writes poetry and receives visitors, but wants to die, as he finds life without dignity intolerable and real life "a false hope, a dream". With the help of Gené (Clara Segura), a tireless woman who works for a right-to-die organization, and a lawyer, Julia (Belén Rueda), whose own degenerative neurological disease makes her sympathetic to his cause, Ramón takes his petition for assisted suicide to court.

The events of the film take place over about 2 years, during which we see Ramón's spirited personality and his helplessness, as well as the impact of his condition on his family. We travel through his imagination and back to his accident. Ramón publishes a book of poetry, while he wages a media campaign to garner support for his petition. The story we see in this film is partially fictionalized. Julia is a composite of several women, and Ramón's nephew Javier is a composite of his numerous nephews and nieces. Gené is a real person, but she was not pregnant during the events of the film. The scene is which Ramón is visited by a priest combines a couple of different incidents with dialogue taken from published debates. The basic true storyline has been preserved, but more license has been taken for thematic and dramatic purposes than I usually find in a biopic.

"The Sea Inside"'s great strengths are Javier Bardem's performance and the way in which director Alejandro Amenábar is able to visually link Ramón's real life to his imagination. As you might expect, the man often lived in his dreams. Bardem is convincing as a man 20 years older than himself -with the aid of good makeup. And his lively, charismatic, but sad performance seem to perfectly convey the real Ramón's personality, as far as I can tell from film clips that I've seen of the real man. The actors who portray Ramón's family all give fine performances, but Mabel Rivera's reserved interpretation is especially impressive. "The Sea Inside" is a little too neatly contrived in places and too melodramatic in others, which I felt were weaknesses. To some degree, this was intentional, as director Amenábar wanted to incorporate the melodramatic and humorous aspects of Ramón's personality into the film. "The Sea Inside" won nearly 40 cinema awards worldwide in 2005. It swept Spain's Goya Awards and took the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It wasn't the best foreign film of 2005, but it's a thoughtful portrait of Ramón Sampedro and his family with an outstanding performance by Javier Bardem.

The DVD (New Line 2005 release): Bonus features include a making-of documentary, an audio commentary, 3 galleries, 3 deleted or alternate scenes, and a DVD-ROM (Windows only). "A Trip to The Sea Inside" (1 hour, 25 minutes) is a way-too-long documentary that traces the making of this film from writing the script, through pre-production, casting, planning, filming, and post-production. There are interviews with cast, crew, and writers, but the most prominently featured interview subjects are director Alejandro Amenábar and producer Fernando Bovaira. I found the information about Javier Bardem preparing for his role the most interesting, but this documentary needed to be edited down to half its length. The "Photo Gallery" contains Ramón's photos from the movie and some on-set stills. The "Storyboard Gallery" is 32 black-and-white drawings for the scene of Ramón's accident. The "Set Design Gallery" contains 17 color drawings. There is a good audio commentary by Alejandro Amenábar that is more informative than the documentary. Amenábar discusses creative and narrative decisions, casting, characters, themes, and the presence of death in his films. The commentary is in Spanish with subtitles. Subtitles are available for the film in English and Spanish.

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