''The Sea Inside'' ( es, Mar adentro) is a 2004
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
psychological drama
Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologi ...
film co-written and directed by
Alejandro Amenábar
Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born March 31, 1972) is a Spanish-Chilean film director, screenwriter and composer. He has won nine Goya Award for Best Director, Goyas—including a Goya Award for Best Director for his 2001 film ''The Othe ...
, who also co-produced, scored and edited. It is based on the real-life story of
Ramón Sampedro
Ramón Sampedro Cameán (5 January 1943 – 12 January 1998) was a Spanish seaman and writer. Sampedro became a quadriplegic at the age of 25 (on 23 August 1968), following a diving accident, and fought for his right to assisted dying for the fol ...
(played by
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...
), who was left
quadriplegic
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...
after a diving accident, and his 28-year campaign in support of
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
and the
right to end his life. The film won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
Plot
This is the life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign to win the right to end his own life with assisted suicide. The film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer suffering from
Cadasil syndrome
CADASIL or CADASIL syndrome, involving cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, is the most common form of hereditary stroke disorder, and is thought to be caused by mutations of the '' Notch 3'' ...
who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that his life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible.
Ramón, now 54 years old, has been fighting for 26 years for his right to die following a diving incident which left him paralysed from the neck down. He is unable to end his life by himself and does not wish to implicate his family or friends, as by Spanish law, they would be charged with murder or assisting a suicide. Following the death of his mother, he is cared for by his sister-in-law, Manuela. Ramón's elder brother José does not believe he should have the right to die; both Manuela and her son, Javier, believe in his case.
Ramón's friend Gené, who works for an organisation fighting for the right to die, puts him in contact with Julia, a lawyer. As she seeks to learn more about him and his situation in order to fight for his cause, he recounts his past and his reasons for wanting to die: He says that there is no dignity in living paralysed. After seeing his story online, Rosa visits Ramón to convince him to live. He demands that she respect his wishes and she leaves, upset. Later, whilst DJing her part-time radio show, she apologises on air in the hopes that he is listening. She continues to visit, bringing her children, and the two strike up a friendship. Despite romantic interest in both women, Ramón maintains that he is spoken for by death.
Julia reads Ramón's memoir describing his life and experiences as a quadriplegic and urges him to publish it. He imagines flying from his bed to visit her on the beach. Later, she is hospitalised with a stroke and admitted to rehab to relearn how to walk. The two write letters to each other, sending updates of their lives. Ramón loses a court case for his right to die. Rosa, in tears, appears at his house and Ramón admits that he has planned a way to commit suicide without the direct and obvious involvement of anyone else.
Meanwhile, Padre Francisco, a quadriplegic Catholic priest, comes to convince Ramón to want to live. Ramón refuses to be carried downstairs and so the two men converse through the help of a church boy, who runs up and down to share their arguments. Angry and upset, Manuela asks him to leave. Julia visits to assist Ramón in writing his memoir whilst his family and friends discuss his right to die. Divided, they fight. But Ramón is unwavering in his wish. Again, he imagines that he is able-bodied, kissing Julia. Later, she admits that her condition will only become more severe and that she is planning to kill herself. But first, she would like to help Ramón.
Ramón and Javier work together to design and build a wheelchair for him in which he can appear in court to fight for his own right to die. His appeal is ultimately rejected, but Ramón eventually fulfils his wish nonetheless. Each of his friends and family complete a small action in his death; not enough to convict any of them of his murder or assisting his suicide. He records himself on a video camera, narrating his own death, before ingesting a cyanide-laced drink that kills him.
Cast
Sampedro family
*
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...
as
Ramón Sampedro
Ramón Sampedro Cameán (5 January 1943 – 12 January 1998) was a Spanish seaman and writer. Sampedro became a quadriplegic at the age of 25 (on 23 August 1968), following a diving accident, and fought for his right to assisted dying for the fol ...
*
Celso Bugallo
Celso Bugallo Aguiar (born 12 March 1947) is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than forty films since 1999.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1947 births
Living people
Spanish male film actors
20th-century Sp ...
as José Sampedro, Ramón's elder brother
*
Mabel Rivera
María Isabel Rivera Torres (born 1952) better known as Mabel Rivera is a Spanish actress from Galicia (Spain).
She was born in the City and Naval Station of Ferrol ( Corunna), North-western Spain. Though she started her career as an actress ...
as Manuela, José's wife and Ramón's caregiver
*
Tamar Novas
Tamar Novas Pita (born 3 October 1986) is a Spanish actor.
Biography
Tamar Novas Pita was born in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, on 3 October 1986. He was cast for a minor role in José Luis Cuerda's ''Butterfly's Tongue'' in his early 10s, ...
as Javier Sampedro, Ramón's nephew
*Joan Dalmau as Joaquín Sampedro, Ramón and José's father
Ramon's friends
*
Belén Rueda
María Belén Rueda García-Porrero (born 16 March 1965) is a Spanish actress. She became popular in Spain for her performances in the Globomedia-produced television series '' Periodistas'' (1998–2002) and, most notably, ''Los Serrano'' (2003 ...
as Julia
*Alberto Jiménez as Germán, Julia's husband
*
Lola Dueñas
María Dolores Dueñas Navarro (born 6 October 1971) better known as Lola Dueñas is a Spanish actress.
Born in Madrid, she is the daughter of Nicolás Dueñas and studied in the Teatro de La Abadía of Madrid. She decided to relocate to Par ...
as Rosa
*Nicolás Fernández Luna as Cristian, Rosa's elder son
*Raúl Lavisier as Samuel, her younger son
*Clara Segura as Gené
*
Francesc Garrido
Francesc Garrido (born 1969) is a Spanish film, television and stage actor from Catalonia.
Biography
Francesc Garrido was born in 1969 in Barcelona. He trained his acting chops at the Barcelona's Institut del Teatre, further advancing his traini ...
as Marc, Gené's husband
Others
*
Josep Maria Pou
Josep Maria Pou i Serra (born 1944 in Mollet del Vallès, Barcelona) is a Catalan Spanish film, theatre and television actor.
He studied drama in Madrid and made his debut in Teatro María Guerrero (1970)
Cinema
*2018 '' The Realm''
*2017 ' ...
as Padre Francisco, a quadriplegic Catholic priest
*Alberto Amarilla as Hermano Andrés
*
Andrea Occhipinti
Andrea Occhipinti (born 12 September 1957) is an Italian film producer and distributor. He is the founder of Rome-based film company Lucky Red.
Since 1987 he has distributed and produced international independent films, introducing Italian audien ...
as Santiago
*Federico Pérez Rey as Conductor (Driver)
*Xosé Manuel Olveira as Juez 1 (Judge 1)
*César Cambeiro as Juez 2
*Xosé Manuel Esperanto as Periodista 1 (Reporter 1)
*Yolanda Muiños as Periodista 2
*Adolfo Obregón as Ejecutivo (Executive)
*José Luis Rodríguez as Presentador (TV host)
*Julio Jordán as Encuadernador (Bookbinder)
*Juan Manuel Vidal as Amigo Ramón (Ramón's friend)
*
Marta Larralde
Marta Larralde (born 22 April 1981) is a Spanish actress from Galicia. She is known for her performances in series such as '' Gran Hotel'' or '' Seis hermanas''.
Biography
Born on 22 April 1981 in Vigo, Larralde took studies in Image and Sound ...
as Muchacha en la playa (Girl on beach)
*Jacob Ahlgren as himself (Baller)
Reception
Critical response
The film received positive reviews from critics. It currently holds an 84% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 135 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. 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."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
See also
*
List of Spanish films of 2004
A list of Spanish-produced and co-produced feature films released in the country in 2004. The domestic theatrical release date is favoured.
Films
Box office
The five highest-grossing Spanish films in 2004, by domestic box office gross ...
*''
Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' (1981)
References
External links
Promotional site for US region*
*
''The Sea Inside''in ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Film''. Eds. Alex Pinar and Salvador Jimenez Murguia. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Inside
2004 drama films
2000s psychological drama films
French biographical drama films
French psychological drama films
Italian psychological drama films
Spanish biographical drama films
Best Film Goya Award winners
Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe winners
Films about euthanasia
Films about paraplegics or quadriplegics
Films directed by Alejandro Amenábar
Films featuring a Best Actor Goya Award-winning performance
Films featuring a Best Actress Goya Award-winning performance
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Goya Award-winning performance
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Goya Award-winning performance
Films set in Spain
Films set in the 1990s
Films shot in Barcelona
Films shot in Madrid
Galicia (Spain) in fiction
Catalan-language films
2000s Spanish-language films
Galician-language films
Venice Grand Jury Prize winners
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
2004 independent films
Films with screenplays by Mateo Gil
2000s Spanish films
2000s French films
2000s Italian films
Films about disability