''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, Can ...

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 psychologic ...

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 Goyas—including a Goya Award for Best Director for his 2001 film '' The Others''— two European Film A ...

, who also co-produced, scored and edited. It is based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in ...

), 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 ...

after a diving accident, and his 28-year campaign in support of euthanasia and the right to end his life. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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 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

as Ramón Sampedro *

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 as Manuela, José's wife and Ramón's caregiver * Tamar Novas as Javier Sampedro, Ramón's nephew *Joan Dalmau as Joaquín Sampedro, Ramón and José's father

Ramon's friends

* Belén Rueda 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 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 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 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

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