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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
THE SEA INSIDE
Much like Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, director Alejandro Amenábar (The
Others) takes an emotionally-charged issue (euthanasia) and offers many points of
views. Yet, unlike Leigh, Amenábar subtly and effectively takes a stand, if not an
ironic one.
Once a robust world-traveling ship's mechanic, Ramón Sampedro (Before Night Falls'
Javier Bardem) has been paralyzed for 28 years after a dive into the sea snaps his
neck. Living with his elder brother's family in a Galician farm, he lies in bed writing
poetry with the aid of a pen held in his mouth. His mood, however (and that of the film),
is anything but morose. (Oddly, the name of his collection of poems is Letters From
Hell). Almost always in good humor, he is hopeful in his determination to kill himself.
For him, it is a matter of dignity. He even refuses to submit himself to use a wheelchair.
In the most humorous scene, a young priest runs ragged up and down a staircase
delivering retorts during a debate between a wheelchair bound priest downstairs and
Ramón in his bedroom. Sampedro dismisses the Church's position by answering,
"Stop mixing apples and ass*****."
Helping him to assert his right to die is Julia (Belén Rueda), a lawyer from Barcelona
suffering from a debilitating illness. Also entering his life is the emotional basket case
Rosa (Lola Dueñas), a needy single mother who first notices Ramon on the
television news. She pursues him, arriving at his home uninvited.
A published author, with an incredibly patient family and two women in love with him,
Ramón has too much to live for. His humiliating helplessness is only referred to
when his sister-in-law and primary caretaker Manuela (Mabel Rivera) offers to change
his colostomy bag. But his daily existence is not depicted: his being turned over to
prevent bed sores, or Manuela bathing or feeding him. And despite fantasy sequences
where Ramón's fancy takes flight, his point of view is never fully explored.
Granted, Amenábar doesn't attempt to explain the unexplainable. Even
Ramón doesn't know why he wants to die.
Deservedly, Bardem has already won awards for his role. This is an "eyes are the
windows to the soul" performance. Yet the strength of the film is in the entire ensemble.
The film is equally about his quest as it is that of his caregivers. The most emotionally
satisfying conflict, though, isn't Ramón's legal skirmishes or even his growing
attraction to Julia or Rosa. It's the battle of wills between Manuela and Rosa, both of
whom are devoted to Ramón. Manuela can barely look at, let alone say hello to this
younger woman intruding on her turf.
Although based on a true story, The Sea Inside does not present the intellectual
or emotional challenges of Brian Clark's 1978 play Who's Life is it Anyway? It is
engaging, but not penetrating. Kent Turner
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