The Sea Inside

An astonishing performance from Javier Bardem is one of the chief successes of Alejandro Amenabar's arresting biopic of Ramon Sampedro, the Spanish poet and quadriplegic who waged a thirty year fight for the right to end his own life through legal means. After a swimming accident at the age of 26, Sampedro (Bardem), a rugged former sailor, was paralysed from the neck down, and remained utterly dependent on his father, brother, sister-in-law and their son for round the clock care at their farm in Galicia, a remote area of Spain. Resolute in his desire to end his suffering, Sampedro employs the services of a lawyer, Julia (Belen Rueda), herself the victim of a degenerative disease, to help him overcome the pro-life stance of Spanish law. She's not the only one intrigued by this immobile but forceful man. Having seen him on television, single mother Rosa (Lola Duenas, excellent) becomes besotted with Sampedro, believing that his reserves of dignity and intelligence can somehow elevate her own meagre existence.

Having established his credentials with the creepy delights of The Others (2001), Alejandro Amenabar proves that he's more than a one-trick director with this remarkably affecting movie. Even though there's never much doubt as to which side of the euthanasia argument Amenabar is on with The Sea Inside, he handles the story with so much grace, sensitivity and compassion that his stance becomes a convincing one, and in the process transcends the traditional stuffy parameters of the real-life biopic. Still, the success of the film is entirely dependent on the performances - particularly Bardem's and he is utterly captivating, complex, brilliant and articulate in equal measures. Naturally, it's possible to find fault with the fact that some of the characters are composites, but the relationships echo with an emotional truth that's impossible to fake. Stunning.