The Sea Inside (2004)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

I always try to to be objective when I watch a movie, regardless of my point of view and what I believe. This film deals with an important topic, delicate, in my humble opinion with great delicacy, and objectivity, without falling into banality or in rhetoric.. Javier B. gives a remarkable performance, touching, funny, fickle, difficult to play a role as her, to be honest. Heartbreaking letter to his son, I have the words that he uses to explain the pain he feels in not being able to move. The director goes on all fronts: the writer friend who change your mind, where fear makes it so human, although to be so contrary equal to him, Rose loves without asking anything in return, because it is this love, the brother in order not to lose it comes to trying to hate him, and father torn by grief that he could not do anything .... You stop to think about "I, what would I do?" I think it's an answer that you can not ever give ... .. The movie I liked a lot, I cried If you can watch it, leaving aside personal opinions, you will not regret and a good movie.Sorry for Bad English

The Sea Inside is a fantastic Spanish film starring Javier Bardem as a quadriplegic who wants to end his life with dignity. I know that a lot of people will condemn this film for supporting euthanasia and giving a one-sided debate, but this isn't a film about a euthanasia debate. It's not something a religious studies teacher will put on for their GCSE class. The Sea Inside is simply about Ramon and the brilliantly written characters which surround him. I firstly have to praise the outstanding performances in this film. Javier Bardem is extraordinary as Ramon and manages to pull off a string of different emotions without using any part of his body (aside from his head of course). It's a magnificent performance and far from his psychopathic Sugar in No Country For Old Men. Belen Rueda (a somewhat underrated actress) is also breath-taking in her role as a lawyer befriending Ramon and suffering from a life threatening disease herself.The Sea Inside manages to captivate its viewers for its entire two hour running time, which is no mean feat for a film largely set in a man's bedroom. Alejandro Amenábar's directing is often extraordinary and always captivating. There's a magnificently heart-breaking moment where Ramon imagines getting out of bed and flies out of the window to the operatic tune of Nessun Dorma. The fluid camera work is quite extraordinary and dream-like. It perfectly captures Ramon's desire to be free, and makes us all appreciate the use of our able bodies.Alejandro Amenábar's screen writing screens are also quite brilliant. Whilst the film does have plenty of emotionally draining moments, there are also plenty of uplifting ones too to make you smile. He makes Ramon a sympathetic and extremely likable character, as well as the good-natured people who surround him. I especially enjoyed the romantic sub-plot which is sure to pull at anyone's heart strings. The Sea Inside largely works so well because of its magnificent characters and powerful dialogue.The film is all the more painful to watch because we know how it's going to end. The suicide scene is pretty intense to watch with the camera stationary, allowing us to see Ramon die almost like in real time. And whilst the film may not be as relentlessly painful to watch as say, Amour, it still has plenty of powerful moments and many did actually pull on my tear ducts, which is a very rare thing for me. The only films to actually make me cry are Amour and Dancer in the Dark, but The Sea Inside did make me tearful. This is a fantastic film about humanity and the right to freedom. It's a film I'd highly recommend to everybody.

Six years ago I watched this film. It is still fresh in my mind, as if I had watched it last night. Movies don't get more impressive. It is so far the best drama I have seen (out of more than 5000 movies, one a day ) I watched over the last 10 years. Nec plus ultra, and it supports my opinion that Spain produces the best cinematography of all countries lately. The story -inspired from reality-is scripted to emotional perfection. Dialogues are exacting, gripping, powerful. There is not a dull moment, as the tension is so strong that even the beautiful landscapes, the flashbacks of Ramon (J. Bardem) the music filled intervals, never detract from the harrowing story.It is not sad, it is not happy, it is not right not wrong, not legal not illegal. For whichever view one may take on the issue, there is a contrarian view of equal power beautifully suggested in the story. Indifference is what you will not feel. The Jesuit priest scene is only one instance of critique of the simplistic opinions and hypocrisy in the bourgeois society.Amenabar has put together this masterpiece with a superb script and crystalline photography, precise cast and evocative music (some by himself). Justly awarded for this movie, he has carved a solid name for himself in cinema.Javier Bardem gives probably the best performance of his career (though I really hope he is able of even more in the future). European Film Awards granted him aptly the Best Actor prize that year. For a movie about the very lack of mobility, with most scenes in a room with a bed and little more, for a character that moves eyes and eyebrows, Bardem is a wonder in the acting guild. Another noted performance of Bardem would be his deliciously versatile act in "Before Night Falls" The supporting actors deliver strong scenes, especially Belen Rueda (Julia). Some review this film as being a debate on an issue. It is, but also far more than that. It is the essence of humanity, makes you think, makes you cry. And -as tested on myself- after many years and thousands of films I have watched after it, it remains the most powerful. This movie unleashes the force of life. I cannot think of a more memorable experience in cinema.

On first viewing I really liked this film. I loved the acting and the style but I felt a certain emotional distance keeping me from labeling it great. But on second viewing, I found myself far more deeply moved, while still being intellectually challenged by the moral, emotional and ethical complexity of the story of a brilliant quadriplegic man with much to give the world wanting to die. Bardem gives a truly heartbreaking, world class performance, and is closely matched by those around him. Director Amenabar also wrote the score for his own film and it is terrific and original. Throughout, there were some stylish touches that gave me a visceral shiver. A few simplistic scenes, and slower moments keep me from calling it a perfect film, but it's not far off.