Rated PG-13 (He did not travel to Holland, where notably liberal attitudes toward euthanasia might have helped him. Its consensus summary states: "Held aloft by a transfixing performance from Javier Bardem as a terminally ill man who chooses to die, The Sea Inside transcends its melodramatic story with tenderness and grace. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) is a Spanish ship mechanic and part-time poet who is left a quadriplegic after a diving accident. for intense depiction of mature thematic material, The Dark Side of Harrison Ford: On the Roles That Led to What Lies Beneath, Why The Thing is One of the Most Effective Horror Movies Ever Made, AFI Fest 2020 Closes Out a Season of Reimagined Online Film Festivals. His family loves him and doesn't complain about the burden; his brother, in fact, is adamantly opposed to euthanasia. What made him angriest about dying, he said, was that he would be unable to read tomorrow's newspaper. In 1968, at 26, Ramon had a diving accident, fracturing a cervical vertebra, and began life as a quadriplegic. The film could have easily been a very preachy biopic of a man’s legal, physical, and emotional struggle, but it is instead a beautiful and stirring portrait of a man yearning to be free. In Spain, the former sailor Ramón Sampedro has been quadriplegic for twenty-eight years and is fighting in court for his right of practicing euthanasia through an association that defends the freedom of choice, lead by his friend Gené. These people are all functioning usefully, and it is clear they have happy and productive days, no doubt interrupted sometimes by pain, doubt and despair. Sampedro's story is certainly a sad one, but both versions of it are rich with cultural and more broadly human drama--and the relation between the two stories would make an interesting subject by itself. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. He is cared for by his family, which loves him, and welcomes the money they get from the government for his support.

Be the first to contribute! I believe I would want to live as long as I could, assuming I had my sanity and some way to communicate. The film received positive reviews from critics. At the University of Illinois, my alma mater, there are more students in wheelchairs than at any other university in the country (the campus is completely lacking in hills, a great convenience), and they were in all my classes; when I was editor of the student paper, our photo editor was in a chair.

People truly care for him -- his brother and sister-in-law, his nephew, the lawyer from a right-to-die organization, and Rosa, the woman from town who works as a disc jockey and pedals her bike out one day to meet him. In the face of their passion, Ramón's repeated wish to die, whatever its personal validity, seems weak and occasionally a bit ungrateful--yet, of course, it is his wish. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Now at the age of fifty-four, Ramon must depend on his family to survive. She wrote and starred in "Dance Me to My Song," and flew from Australia to attend my first Overlooked Film Festival.

Film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. ), Spanish law, with the state and perhaps the Catholic Church underlying it, is a major factor in both the film and the historical story. Parents Guide. Rosa, the local girl, desperately wants him to live. (Sampedro divided up the task of assisting him so finely to reduce each person's contribution to a size he hoped would not be prosecutable.). What's keeping Ramón alive is his family's love and devotion and their strongly principled refusal to cooperate in his intentional dying. Rack up 500 points and you'll score a $5 reward for more movies. | Though he could not move himself, he had an uncanny ability to move others. Ramón is introduced to the lawyer that is defending his cause, Julia, who has a degenerative fatal disease; and meets Rosa, a lonely worker that has been abused by men. To be sure, most of them are not quads. Summary In this film based on a true story, Ramón Sampedro (Javier Barden), a young fisherman from the northwest coast of Spain, is injured in a diving accident that leaves him paralyzed from the neck down and completely dependent for his care on his older brother and his sister-in-law, who make numerous sacrifices in order to care for him.

The film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer suffering from Cadasil syndrome who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that his life is worth living. He was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident as a young man. His brother is adamantly opposed to euthanasia, but Ramón is comforted and aided in his quest by two women who are drawn into his circle.

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As "The Sea Inside" opens, Ramon demands the right to die. Their relationship changes the behavior and viewpoint of life of Rosa and Julia. Most nations and states outlaw euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, and in the rare exceptions--the USA's state of Oregon, for instance--the legal provisions tend not to apply, because Ramón is not dying.

He does not care to live any longer. | So says Ramon Sampedro, who has been in the same bed in the same room for 26 years, not counting trips to the hospital. Julia's own health becomes an issue.

When Ramón's legal appeal (for the same rights the nondisabled have to end their lives) is lost on a technicality, he seems to have nowhere to turn, but Rosa, converted by her love for Ramón, finally agrees to help him die. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible. The factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a thirty-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die. Best Cinematography (Javier Aguirresarobe, Best Director (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee), Best Editing (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee), Best Screenplay - Original (Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, nominee), Best Supporting Actor (Celso Bugallo, nominee), Best Supporting Actress (Mabel Rivera, nominee), Best Cinematographer (Javier Aguirresarobe, nominee), Best Screenwriter (Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, nominee), Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Javier Bardem, nominee). The factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a thirty-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die. In "The Sea Inside," Ramon Sampedro has considered all these notions, and is not persuaded. In a particularly moving scene, Ramón-who of course cannot move--tells Julia that her smell is the beginning of his erotic fantasies about her. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. He is tired of his bed, his limitations and his life. Only recently I got an e-mail from a fellow film critic I have been in communication with for years; discussing this movie, he revealed to me that he is a quadriplegic. [3], The storyline of 2010 Bollywood film Guzaarish is similar to that of Mar adentro. Best Sound (Juan Ferro, Alfonso Raposo, María Steinberg, Ricardo Steinberg, Best Spanish Actor (Javier Bardem, nominee), Best Spanish Actress (Mabel Rivera, nominee). The Sea Inside (Spanish: Mar adentro) is a 2004 Spanish drama film written, produced, directed, and scored by Alejandro Amenábar, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

I am reminded of something written by another Spaniard, the director Luis Bunuel. 2 hr 5 min. Alejandro Amenabar’s The Sea Inside (or “Mar Adentro” in Spanish) is a heart-wrenching yet unsentimental look at the life of a man who fought for decades for the right to die with dignity.

", "Is Guzaarish inspired by Spanish film The Sea Inside?