Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside, 2004) — film review

A touching journey toward the death

Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside) is a 2004 Spanish drama film written, produced, directed, scored and edited by Alejandro Amenábar, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), who was left quadriplegic after a diving accident, and his 28-year campaign in support of euthanasia and the right to end his life.

(Source: Wikipedia)

I like this movie so much, and find it beautifully directed that of course deserves an Oscar. To be honest, this is really not the typical type of movie I normally enjoy, but this one was so warm, touching, and thought-provoking that it diluted the bitterness it brought. The script was especially well written, covering not only the issue of euthanasia, but also the broader discussion of life and death. I also found some of the verses, dialogues, and monologues elaborate enough to add even more beauty and meaning to the film. For example, in the beginning there were tranquil sea scenes accompanied by calming monologues, and at the end we also witnessed Ramón’s death with his heartbreaking, yet convincing sentences.

Actually, I didn’t find this movie too sad or depressive. On the contrary, I think it is a hopeful movie as long as every viewer can directly face the issue of life and death. Does life really mean hope and death necessarily mean despair? Is life absolutely brighter than death? I believe that these are the questions this movie tried to arouse. When watching this film, once I stopped sticking to the point that life is definitely better than death, I actually found lots of hope in the end because Ramón could finally fulfill his wishes. I felt glad for him and hopeful for those facing similar challenges. Therefore, although it was a movie that dealt with serious issues, it didn’t have to be depressive.

I do agree that this movie was a little biased toward euthanasia, but not so much. It did give some space for the opponents of assisted suicide to express. For example, I really like the dialogues between Ramón and the priest: Ramón said that 67% of Spaniards support euthanasia, while the priest responded that ethical problems can never be decided by polls. The dialogues also made me think between the priest’s “Freedom that takes life is not freedom” and Ramón’s “Life that takes freedom is not life”, leaving space to for viewers to decide whether freedom is more important than life.

Finally, I think it’s totally fine even if the director was super biased. There’s no need to be as neutral as in primary school textbooks or newspapers. Movies as a form of art, is essentially meant to express the opinions of the creator, so that he or she would be able to raise public awareness, or challenge the status quo. As we know that euthanasia was finally legalised in Spain in 2021, in which I believe this film had played a crucial role.

(This is an edited version of one of my film reviews from the course “Never Too Many Movies: Spanish & Catalan Society through Cinema” during my exchange at ESADE Business School in Barcelona.)