The Sea Inside (DVD)

Before The Sea Inside my experience seeing the acting talent of Javier Bardem was limited to his performance in Collateral, which was only about five minutes, so to see what he did with this role was an absolute astonishment, just as is Alejandro Amenabár's film.

The 2005 Foreign Film Oscar-winner, The Sea Inside centers on telling the story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, a man suffering from a tragic accident which left him as a quadriplegic for the past 30 years. Ramón only wants to die and he is campaigning for the right to end his life in dignity so he no longer has to suffer a life confined to a bed.

Love and death become the focal point of this highly dramatic film, which centers on the idea of someone's right to die and while Bardem's performance is absolutely amazing the supporting cast lends just as much of a hand to the success of this downtrodden story.

The number one achievement of The Sea Inside is the ability of the actors to tell the story of their emotions with their eyes, primarily Bardem whose character is restricted to only moving his head due to his disability. Fortunately, this film focuses primarily on Ramón's relationship with those around him and less on his determination on his right to die. While the subject of euthanasia is the motivating factor behind every instance in the film it is not force-fed down your throat making the touchy subject much easier to deal with, if that is possible.

All of this taken into consideration, this is a film that will be a tough sell on DVD primarily due to its solemn nature. I don't know about you but I don't want to consistently put a film in the player that focuses on one man's wish to be put to end his life prematurely.

This is just a personal feeling, but serious films that focus on the suffering of individuals, no matter how happy the end result, tend to be films I don't watch repeatedly, no matter how good they are and The Sea Inside falls right into that category.

As for this DVD edition, there are only a couple of special features, but one of them is a 90-minute making-of documentary to go along with a director commentary, deleted scenes, storyboards, set design galleries and photo galleries.

The documentary is quite expansive as it begins with Mateo Gil and Amenabár writing the script all the way through the production. The beginning stages of the documentary are easily the best, especially when you get the chance to see the creative process at work as Gil and Amenabár write the script and hash out the storyline, it is something you don't get to see that often.

So let the decision be up to you. If fantastic films about troubled lives excite you and you enjoy watching them over and over again than this is for you. If not this is definitely worth your time at the rental store.