The Sea Inside

Screening: 12 June 2006

Spain/France/Italy 2004
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar
Leading players ~ Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, Lola Dueñas, Mabel Rivera.
126 minutes (subtitles)

Synopsis

The powerful and moving true story of quadriplegic Ramón Sampedro (Bardem) who campaigned for 27 years to die with dignity. For all that time he was bedbound, unable to move below the neck and requiring 24-hour care. Nonetheless, he possessed the energy and determination to fight a legal battle to obtain consent to be assisted to commit suicide. He lost the battle but died anyway.

The Sea Inside also focuses on Ramón's relationship with two women, Rosa (Dueñas) who tries to convince him that life is worth living, and Julia (Rueda) the lawyer who takes his case to the courts.

Ramón was an articulate man who spoke for himself. He wrote - using his mouth - and won the support of the Spanish public through media interviews.

Despite concentrating on a man's fight to end his sorry life, The Sea Inside has an uplifting message, showing the strength, dignity and self-sacrifice of the human spirit.

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Film Facts

Academy Award winner best Foreign Language Film 2005
Three months before the Spanish premiere, Alejandro Amenábar gave a photo to the media to be shown all over the nation to make people get used to Bardem's make-up and forget about it while watching the film to pay attention to his performance.
Nominated by the Spanish Cinematographic Academy, to represent Spain in the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film.
When Belén Rueda was phoned to be informed she had just been chosen to play a role in an Amenábar film she hung up. She thought they were kidding her.
This is the second Spanish movie about Ramón Sampedro's life. The first one was Condenado a Vivir (2001) (TV).
This was the most awarded Spanish movie at the Goya Awards, winning 14 of the 15 awards for which it was nominated.
'Only time and the evolution of consciences will decide one day if my request was reasonable or not.' Ramón Sampedro.