A sea of emotion The issues underpinning this film are ones which provoke the strongest of opinions, with very few being able to occupy a grey middle-ground. Who has the right to decide when a life should end, when the holder of that life wants his to stop, but needs help to achieve that end? This film is no dreary discourse on the ethics of euthanasia. Nor is it a life-affirming piece filled with cod philosophy and hope. What it is is a masterfully-acted sweep of underplayed emotion and artistic film-making which... more info
Inspirational Javier Bardem is astonishing in this film as Ramón, a quadraplegic who finds continuing his life intolerable. The scene where he tells his nephew that he will be so sorry for what he just said that he may hate himself in years to come is delivered with such acutely hidden emotions that one begins to really sense the hell he endures. Just as the opening oasis is described as having infinite peace, his world seemingly contains the exact opposite, yet he still has his wit, his smile, and the ability to... more info
Extraordinary and moving film This is a superb film that deals sensitively with the difficult subject of assisted suicide and the rights of a severely disabled man to decide to end his life. Javier Bardem is exceptional as the quadraplegic victim of a swimming accident that occurred 28 years earlier. He brings immense dignity, humour and warmth to the character. The film manages to cover many angles of the situation: the burdens on his family; the frustrations of the victim; the attitude of the Catholic Church; the ramifications of... more info
Worth your time I came to this after seeing Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" a couple of weeks ago: what an actor! And what an example of Spanish cinema. The cast on the whole excelled, the script balanced gravity with humour (the upstairs-downstairs debate with the Jesuit is especially funny, but smiling through the pain recurs throughout the film), the cinematography made you want to go to Galicia and fly above the landscape the way the lead character, Ramon, fantasized he could fly. It comes down on Ramon's side... more info
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