The sea in me
| Movie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| German title | The sea in me | ||
| Original title | Mar Adentro | ||
| Country of production | Spain , France , Italy | ||
| original language | Spanish , Galician , Catalan | ||
| Publishing year | 2004 | ||
| length | 125 minutes | ||
| Age rating |
FSK 12 JMK 14 |
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| Rod | |||
| Director | Alejandro Amenábar | ||
| script | Alejandro Amenábar Mateo Gil |
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| production | Alejandro Amenábar Fernando Bovaira |
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| music | Alejandro Amenábar | ||
| camera | Javier Aguirresarobe | ||
| cut | Alejandro Amenábar | ||
| occupation | |||
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| chronology | |||
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The Sea in Me (Original Title: Mar Adentro ) is a multi-award-winning film by Alejandro Amenábar , based on a true story. The film tells the story of the Galician sailor Ramón Sampedro (1943–1998), who suffered a swimming accident in 1968 at the age of 25.
action
After jumping into the shallow water, Ramón Sampedro breaks his neck when hitting the sandy bottom. He was rescued from the water shortly before drowning, but from now on he was completely paralyzed from the neck down . Since he has since considered his existence to be unworthy of living, it is his dearest wish to die “with dignity” - with which he indicates that he wants to take his own life.
In his environment, however, the death wish meets with incomprehension and rejection. His sister-in-law Manuela, who cared for him, seems torn, his brother José categorically rejects euthanasia from the start. Ramón does not speak to his father about his wish and his nephew Javier, called Javi, seems to be enduring the situation as best he can. The Spanish state authorities and the Church are also refusing to legalize active euthanasia to Ramón .
Only the lawyer Julia, who suffers from the hereditary disease CADASIL, and the association “Die dignified”, which Rámon has joined, want to actively support his cause. Although Ramón feels that he would not be able to love anyone, over time he seems to develop deep feelings for the married Julia.
With the factory worker Rosa, another person enters Ramón's life who wants to help him. Rosa is a young, single mother who - despite her problems - exudes a zest for life and is of the opinion that the quadriplegic Ramón only lacks this. Their attempt to convince him at their first meeting that life is worth living in spite of his disability fails miserably and ends in a tangible argument. Nevertheless, Rosa does not give up and becomes friends with Ramón more and more over time. She learns to understand him and falls in love with him. However, she is shocked when Ramón asks her to actively assist him in dying and refuses to let him go.
Julia, on the other hand, suffers a stroke and then decides to put an end to her life as well, instead of being inescapably at the mercy of her fate. After reading Ramón's mouth-written poems , she decides to publish them. With the promise to kill himself and himself on the day his book was first published, she gives Ramón hope again. The two kiss and from now on share their love for the common death wish. Ramón's book appears, but Julia doesn't stick to her agreement. Only the first copy of his book is sent to him in the mail. Julia won't come back.
Ramón loses a lawsuit taking place in La Coruña to determine whether active euthanasia should be legalized. Although the paraplegic who prefers to stay in his room has come especially for this, he is not even heard. Euthanasia remains a taboo. Since he is tired of the fight against the authorities, there is only one solution for him: assisted suicide in secret and in such a way that nobody can be prosecuted for it.
After all, it is Rosa who fulfills his most ardent wish and, together with various friends of Ramón, provides him with a lethal dose of potassium cyanide . However, he records his suicide with a camera and explains to his opponents that there was no other option but to go this route and that - due to the legal activities of various friends - they cannot charge anyone for active euthanasia. Ramón drinks and dies shortly afterwards.
The last scene of the film shows Gené, a long-time friend of Ramón and at the same time the director of the association “Die dignified”, who visits Julia, who is now in a wheelchair. She hands the lawyer, who is already showing the first signs of dementia, a farewell letter from Ramón, but she can no longer remember him.
The two women look out to sea and you can hear Ramón's voice, which (in the German film version) speaks the following words from one of his poems:
Into the sea, into the sea,
into its weightless depth,
where dreams come true
and two unite in one will
to satisfy a great longing.
A kiss kindles life
with lightning and thunder,
and transforming
my body is no more body
than pushing me to the center of
the universe.
The most childlike hug
and the purest of all kisses,
until the two of us are nothing more
than just one great longing.
Your gaze and my gaze
thrown back and forth without a word,
repeating like an echo: deeper, deeper,
far beyond all being,
made of flesh and blood and bones.
But I always wake up
and I would always rather be dead
to endlessly
get caught with my mouth in your hair.
- Ramón Sampedro -
background
The story of Sampedro experienced a large media presence in Spain and sparked a public discussion about the legalization of euthanasia. In 1993, Sampedro lost a lawsuit in which he appeared as a supporter of euthanasia. He committed suicide on January 12, 1998 with the help of a factory worker whose real name is Ramona Maneiro. She followed Sampedro's instructions and dissolved cyanide in a glass of water. Ramón Sampedro's agony lasted over 20 minutes, Ramona Maneiro could not see it and fled into the bathroom. However, Maneiro did not admit her act until the statute of limitations expired on January 12, 2005. Until then, the details of his death had not been clarified. The case will probably be rolled up again.
Sampedro wrote many poems from his sick bed. They were published shortly before his death under the title Cartas desde el Infierno ( Letters from Hell ).
Reviews
“The life story of Ramón Sampedro, who, completely paralyzed by an accident, fought for years legally for the right to end his life, which he finally did with the help of his girlfriend. An attempt to address the issue of active euthanasia in a differentiated way. "
"One of the most moving cinema experiences of the season."
"Moving without being cheesy."
Awards
The film remained largely unknown to the general public and could be found almost exclusively in arthouse cinemas in German-speaking countries. The sea in me won prizes at national and international film festivals:
- Oscar for best foreign language film (2005)
- Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film (2004)
- 14 Goyas at the 2004 awards ceremony. The film won the award in over half of all categories.
- Best movie
- Best Director (Alejandro Amenábar)
- Best female lead (Lola Dueñas)
- Best Male Lead (Javier Bardem)
- Best Cinematography (Javier Aguirresarobe)
- Best makeup and hairstyles (Jo Allen, Ana López Puigcerver, Mara Collazo, Manolo García)
- Best New Actor (Tamar Novas)
- Best New Actress (Belén Rueda)
- Best Original Screenplay (Alejandro Amenábar)
- Best Production Supervision (Emiliano Otegui)
- Best tone (Juan Ferro, Alfonso Raposo, María Steinberg, Ricardo Steinberg)
- Best Supporting Actor (Celso Bugallo)
- Best Supporting Actress (Mabel Rivera)
- Nomination: Best Production Design (Benjamín Fernández)
- Critics Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Film (2004)
- Independent Spirit Award for the best foreign language film (2004)
- Silver Lion at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival
- Coppa Volpi for Javier Bardem as best actor at the Venice Film Festival (2004)
- European film award for Alejandro Amenábar as best director (2004)
- European film award for Javier Bardem as best actor (2004)
Web links
- photos
- The Sea Inside in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- The Sea Inside atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Age rating for The Sea in Me . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ The sea in me. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .