The Sea Inside: Movie & DVD Review

(Originally published Dec. 14, 2004)

In Alejandro Amenabar’s provocative, moving drama, “The Sea Inside,” Javier Bardem gives an Academy Award-nominated performance as Ramon Sampedro, a middle-aged quadriplegic who has lived 28 years beyond the day he believes he should have been allowed to die.

That day was spent diving high above the sea on the cliffs of his hometown in Spain. It ended with Ramon, distracted by the sight of a pretty girl, diving into the sea as the tide was boiling into retreat. Upon entry, Ramon struck his head on the sea’s floor and broke his neck, thus leaving him unable to feel or use his arms, torso, and legs.

Now, having lived nearly three decades without the ability to move anything other than his head, the steadfast Ramon is pushing hard to be rid of the body he feels has imprisoned him.

He wants to die. Problem is, those who love him and take care of him--his older brother, Jose (Celso Bugallo), his sister-in-law, Manuela (Mabel Rivera), his nephew, Javi (Tamar Novias), his father, Joaquin (Joan Dalmau)--want him to live.

And if they want him to live, then how is Ramon going to die without their help? Through legislation? Fat chance. When it comes to euthanasia, Spain isn’t exactly handing out lethal combinations of pills for the asking.

Making matters more difficult for Ramon is that the Catholic Church has publicly intervened with a quadriplegic priest who is outraged that Ramon believes his life isn’t worth living. The priest argues that since he himself has led a productive life while confined to a wheelchair, certainly Ramon can do the same.

Likely he could--obviously he could--but should he be forced to do so? Or, as Ramon argues, should he be allowed to do what he wants with his body? That’s the ethical dilemma steaming at the film’s center, with Ramon meeting two women along the way--the ailing lawyer Julia (Belen Rueda) and the blindly in love Rosa (Lola Duenas)--who are his best chances for the death he craves.

Based on a true story, “The Sea Inside” is unabashedly romantic, particularly in scenes that depict how Ramon has survived his condition through leaps of fantasy.

When he can, he escapes his body by imagined flights through his bedroom window and into the open air beyond, where he flies over the sea that betrayed him, soars above mountain tops he can’t climb, blasts through cities he no longer can walk through.

Some will argue that it’s a bit much, particularly since Amenabar layers “Nessun dorma,” of all arias, over the visuals. But in this context and with this performance by Bardem, it’s nevertheless powerful and effective. You can’t watch the movie passively. Just try getting through it with a dry eye.

Though some might consider the movie to be a commentary on quadriplegia, “The Sea Inside” is really a film about personal choice and control over one’s life. It will elicit anger in some, compassion in others. Its ending will render its audience still.

Grade: A-