The Sea Inside

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 2004, The Sea Inside is a life-affirming film about a man who wishes to die. That may seem like a massive contradiction, but in the hands of director Alejandro Amen?bar (Open Your Eyes, The Others) and actor Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls), this fact-based Spanish drama concerns the final days of Ram?n Sampedro, the quadriplegic poet who waged a controversial campaign for his right to die. He was denied this right for 30 years, and ultimately arranged for his own assisted suicide, but this remarkable film–and Bardem's keenly intelligent performance–examines the hotly-debated issue of assisted suicide with admirable depth and humanity, just as Sampedro did until his death in 1998. For Sampedro, death was preferable to severe paralysis (he even refused to use a wheelchair), but the film does not suggest a "disposable" attitude toward disability. Instead, it's a thoughtful meditation on life and love as gifts to be cherished, and a challenging drama that begs each viewer to examine their own personal beliefs about what makes life worth living. You may not agree with Sampedro and his ultimate denial of life, but The Sea Inside will urge you to ponder how you would react under similar circumstances, and that makes it a profoundly meaningful film. –Jeff Shannon

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Wonderful
Best movie I have seen in a very long time, higly recommended. Strong and crude topic treated with an amazing sensitivity. Wondefully directed and Javier Barden act is amazing.

Don't miss it

4 Stars Beautiful
This movie will make even the best of cinamatographers take note. The scenery, the beautiful characters…well played I say, well played. The story itself is reason to watch, and then ponder your own life…

5 Stars great movie
this is a fantastic movie, you don't even notice you are reading subtitles. i recomend it to anyone, even those who think they don't like foreign films.

5 Stars The sea inside (mare adentro)
This film is one of the rare films which really impressed me. I never cry at films but I did in this film, and I saw many movies, as I am a movie lover. A one in about 20 years film. Fantastic, sensitive, to the bottom.

5 Stars No emotion left untouched in THE SEA INSIDE
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.

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