ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies.

SPANISH director Alejandro Amenabar is probably best known for the Nicole Kidman chiller ‘The Others’. ‘The Sea Inside’ couldn’t be a more different film, but it also benefits from Amenabar’s rigorous control of mood and pace.
  
It is a slow-burner, but one that rewards with a deeply moving story of a man’s fight to die with dignity. Based on true events, the film’s greatest asset is a magnificent performance from Javier Bardem. Aged for the part and confined to a bed for most of the story, he brings a wonderful grace and warmth to the role of Ramon.

Once a strapping, athletic young man, Ramon snapped his neck on a dive into the ocean and was left paralysed. He has come to terms with what happened and learned to live without bitterness. He has friends and hobbies, a lively mind and sense of humour.
  
Now, more than twenty five years after the accident he has decided that he wants to be allowed to die. He knows that life is a precious gift but if he cannot experience it to the full then it is not something he chooses to continue. ‘Life is a right, not an obligation,’ he argues.
  
While bearing surface similarities to the play ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway?’, ‘The Sea Inside’ is a more subtle and profound piece of drama. It never resorts to cheap melodrama, and allows both sides of the euthanasia debate to have their say. Ramon is so certain of his desires and so determined in his pursuit of them that he becomes someone to admire rather than someone to pity, and the film emerges as a touching celebration of life.
  
THE SEA INSIDE (Mar Adentro)
General release, selected cinemas
Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Writer: Alejandro Amenabar, Mateo Gil
Stars: Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Duenas, Mabel Rivera.
Certificate: PG
Running time: 125 mins
Country: Spain
Year: 2004
 

© Allan Hunter, 2005