Ramon Sampedro has been a quadriplegic for nearly three decades as a result of an accident in his mid-twenties. Restricted to movements from only neck and up, he is under the tireless care of his family of four, a loving widower father, a stubbonly religious and honest brother, a sister-in-law who treats him like her own son and a sensible though not particularly intellectual nephew. This film is about Ramon's sober, calm, but fiercely determined effort to seek consent from the Spanish courts for euthanasia.
This is not an emotional decision. His life after the accident has not been devoid of bliss. He is blessed with a loving and caring family that makes his handicap less difficult to endure. He is talented and his talent is gratified in his ability to write beautiful poetry, and he has learned to "cry with a smile". After 26 years, inertia alone might sustain his carrying on. But he says he no longer wants to live without dignity. I think the real reason for him to want to die, particularly at this point, may be that he no longer wants to be a burden to his family. His father, while still healthy, is old. His brother and sister-in-law are both older than he. His nephew will finish school soon and deserves to focus on his future and career.
Here comes the biggest irony. We see so much zeal, energy, vitality and LIFE in Ramon's quest to seek death. Through his good friend and death-right activist Gene and her husband, he engages a lawyer to fight the legal battle, culminating in his yielding his resistance to wheelchairs, so as to be able to appear in court to demonstrate that his is a fully rational and responsible man, capable of making a well-reasoned decisions. Interesting to note that during this time, Gene is pregnant and the scene of childbirth punctuates Ramon's effort to gain death.
Julia, the lawyer undertaking his case, is a gentle, perceptive woman, happily married but suffering herself from a disease that progressively destroys her, first putting her in a wheelchair and eventually damaging her brain. What we see in most of the film though is the development of a wonderful love story between Ramon and Julia, from their working on the case, their gradually understanding, appreciating and empathizing with each other, and Julia's helping Ramon to get his poetry published.
Another woman that comes into Ramon's life is Rosa, a divorced factory worker with two children. Rosa has read about Raman and wants to persuade him to continue to embrace life. Not at Ramon's intellectual plane but shrewd in her own way, Rosa soon falls in love with him. At the end she become the one who helps Ramon to gain his wish after the court turns down his request.
The most remarkable thing about this film is that it is so full on life. Part of this is in the vivid energy with which Ramon pursues his purpose, so vibrant that you sometimes forget that this purpose is death. Part of this is in another line of activity first the discovery, then the publishing of Ramon's poetry. But mostly, it is in Ramon himself. If there is self-pity, you see very little of it. He is articulate in his arguments and firm in his conviction. He can be irritable, but he can also be humorous and gentle. He is intelligent and charming, so much so that both Julia and Rosa, from very different backgrounds, fall in love with him almost instantly. And all these are portrayed by Javier Bardem, acting from only his neck up. Surely, language should not be a barrier to his winning the Best Actor Oscar this year.
This film is rich in every aspect, deeply moving at times, hilarious funny at others. The cast is wonderful. In addition to the two women who fall in love with Ramon, played by Belen Rueda (Julia) and Lola Duenas (Rosa), special mention must be made of Mabel Rivera, whose simple and enduring goodness as Manuela the sister-in-law will surely break the hardest heart.
For an artistically splendorous scene, everyone will remember Ramon's flight out of the window, over the vales, to yonder lovely shore, under the rousing music of probably the most popular tenors' show-off aria Nessun Dorma.
This is not an emotional decision. His life after the accident has not been devoid of bliss. He is blessed with a loving and caring family that makes his handicap less difficult to endure. He is talented and his talent is gratified in his ability to write beautiful poetry, and he has learned to "cry with a smile". After 26 years, inertia alone might sustain his carrying on. But he says he no longer wants to live without dignity. I think the real reason for him to want to die, particularly at this point, may be that he no longer wants to be a burden to his family. His father, while still healthy, is old. His brother and sister-in-law are both older than he. His nephew will finish school soon and deserves to focus on his future and career.
Here comes the biggest irony. We see so much zeal, energy, vitality and LIFE in Ramon's quest to seek death. Through his good friend and death-right activist Gene and her husband, he engages a lawyer to fight the legal battle, culminating in his yielding his resistance to wheelchairs, so as to be able to appear in court to demonstrate that his is a fully rational and responsible man, capable of making a well-reasoned decisions. Interesting to note that during this time, Gene is pregnant and the scene of childbirth punctuates Ramon's effort to gain death.
Julia, the lawyer undertaking his case, is a gentle, perceptive woman, happily married but suffering herself from a disease that progressively destroys her, first putting her in a wheelchair and eventually damaging her brain. What we see in most of the film though is the development of a wonderful love story between Ramon and Julia, from their working on the case, their gradually understanding, appreciating and empathizing with each other, and Julia's helping Ramon to get his poetry published.
Another woman that comes into Ramon's life is Rosa, a divorced factory worker with two children. Rosa has read about Raman and wants to persuade him to continue to embrace life. Not at Ramon's intellectual plane but shrewd in her own way, Rosa soon falls in love with him. At the end she become the one who helps Ramon to gain his wish after the court turns down his request.
The most remarkable thing about this film is that it is so full on life. Part of this is in the vivid energy with which Ramon pursues his purpose, so vibrant that you sometimes forget that this purpose is death. Part of this is in another line of activity first the discovery, then the publishing of Ramon's poetry. But mostly, it is in Ramon himself. If there is self-pity, you see very little of it. He is articulate in his arguments and firm in his conviction. He can be irritable, but he can also be humorous and gentle. He is intelligent and charming, so much so that both Julia and Rosa, from very different backgrounds, fall in love with him almost instantly. And all these are portrayed by Javier Bardem, acting from only his neck up. Surely, language should not be a barrier to his winning the Best Actor Oscar this year.
This film is rich in every aspect, deeply moving at times, hilarious funny at others. The cast is wonderful. In addition to the two women who fall in love with Ramon, played by Belen Rueda (Julia) and Lola Duenas (Rosa), special mention must be made of Mabel Rivera, whose simple and enduring goodness as Manuela the sister-in-law will surely break the hardest heart.
For an artistically splendorous scene, everyone will remember Ramon's flight out of the window, over the vales, to yonder lovely shore, under the rousing music of probably the most popular tenors' show-off aria Nessun Dorma.