Mar Adentro (2004): Life and Dignity
“Mar Adentro” or “The Sea Inside” is a creation of Alejandro Amenábar on the life of Ramón Sampedro which is quite real.
Ramón Sampedro was a ship mechanic and got paralyzed in a diving accident. After the accident, he has been quadriplegic for twenty-eight years and he fought in court for his right of practicing euthanasia, as he said “Life is not an obligation, it is my right.”
The movie is not only on Ramon’s legal fight and the ethical questions of choosing to die. It goes through a series of relational stages- making, breaking, reinventing; and this creates a sublime romantic storyline which has the main issue of life and death in it’s core.
If you watch film for just entertainment purpose, I would advice you not to watch this movie even you find it very available. This movie is mainly a kind of “intellectual” film, so it may seem tiresome and boring to some people.
This movie evolved around such serious matter like Euthanasia.Bbut the central charecter Ramon has a very nice sense of humor, I better say dark humor. This dark humour was expressed with sparkling (and sometimes sarcastic) comments of Ramon in many occasions in the movie. And on the two sides of Ramon there were two central charecters of the movie- Julia and Rosa, with two different versions of the same love. And as the story progress they exchange their positions, too!
Javier Bardem gave one of my most unforgettable performances in any film as Ramón Sampedro. Other actors did good, too.
Cinematography of this movie was as good as other good spaniard movies. The specialty of this movie can be it’s dialogue- so strong captivating yet lively. I can’t help quoting some-
“Padre Francisco: Freedom without a life is not freedom.
Ramón Sampedro: A life without freedom is not a life.”
“Ramón Sampedro: When you can’t escape, and you constantly rely on everyone else, you learn to cry by smiling, you know?”
“Rosa: Love is an impulse. You can’t rationalize it.”
Here’s an article on Ramón Sampedro on Time magazine while he was alive and fighting for his right for Assisted suicide- Live and Let Die.
And, the last point to note, this movie is on a serious issue.. so if you want to watch this movie, please try to get some foods for thought from this movie… get inside the film.
An additional info, at last who helped Ramon to commit suicide was named Ramona Maneiro in real, though in the movie her name was Rosa. she was arrested and charged with assisting suicide, but was released due to lack of evidence and no further charges were ever filed in connection with Ramón’s death. Seven years later, Ramona, speaking on a Spanish talk show admitted to providing him with a cyanide-laced drink and a straw. She said “I did it for love.”
And the director (as well as the writer) of this film Alejandro Amenábar was also directed The Others, and has writing credit of movies like Vanilla Sky and The Others.
So, what are you thinking? Yes you can watch the movie and it may happen to be a thought-provoking experience for you.
