The Sea Inside - B-

On DVD. Released 2005. Rated PG-13, 125 minutes.

The Sea Inside explores the world of Ramon Sampedro (in a great performance from Javier Bardem), a Spanish quadriplegic seeking permission from the Spanish government to end his life (or, more accurately, for allowing someone to help him do it). The movie, based on a true story, takes place 26 years after the diving accident that paralyzed the then 20 year old Ramon, showing his life, his family, and his reasons for seeking his own demise.

This one never really gets off the ground, partly because of the pedestrian script, but mostly because of the director, Alejandro Amenabar (The Others). The thesis of the film is that Ramon should be able to die with dignity, and that there are no arguments against Ramon's wishes except for the metaphysical, so therefore in a secular state and society there can be no prohibition of 'assisted suicide.' The court case is secondary to Ramon's relationship with his caretakers and two women. The first is Rosa, a working class woman that falls in love with him after coming for a visit spurred by an interview with Ramon on TV. The second is with Julia, the lead attorney in his case and his eventual lover. He chose Julia to respresent him because she, too, has a degenerative disease (but, alas, is beautiful), and she ultimately forms the main argument for the film's thesis.

After becoming intimate with Ramon (kiss/snuggle) she says she loves him, and wants to help him die and then she will die too. Then she backs out of the deal and chooses to live. After we see Ramon's final words and his death after drinking potassium cyanide, the movie cuts to Julia. She is unintelligible and can't remember Ramon.....The message of course is that she should have joined Ramon in their Romeo and Juliet plan, and would have been better off.

This movie strikes me as an extension of the extreme secularization of Europe, and represents a depraved world view. Although the arguments against his wishes are presented verbally and through his relationships, the conclusion of the film is unsettling.