The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004) or, Death Wish: Spain

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Javier Bardem looks pensive against a sea surface on this poster for Alejandro Amenábar's The Sea Inside

Following an unfortunate diving accident as a young man, our protagonist is left quadriplegic for 28 years with a wish to die. - But is that for him to decide?

The Sea Inside is written by Mateo Gil (The Laws of Thermodynamics/Las Leyes de la Termodinámica (2018)) and its great Chilean co-writer/co-producer/director/composer/editor Alejandro Amenábar (The Others (2001)). The two tackle a difficult story here, which is the true story of Ramón Sampedro, one which presents the ethical dilemma of euthanasia.
The bedridden state of our hero is cinematically overcome with a handsome, recurring dream of floating. Javier Bardem (Live Flesh/Carne Trémula (1997)) acts well, - but at some point his character becomes too much for me to take, and the film's idolization of him as a determined, Oscar-worthy paralyzed role becomes too one-sided. It starts getting unclear why he is afforded such enormous care and attention, when his only wish, expressed loudly and often, is to die.
Atheistic, warm advocates of euthanasia may respond with deeper feeling to The Sea Inside than I did.

 

Related post:

 

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: 10 mil. €, equaling approximately 11.38 mil. $
Box office: 38.5 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.38 times its cost)
[The Sea Inside premiered 2 September (Madrid, Spain) and runs 125 minutes. Sampedro's story was also the subject of Condenado a Vivir (2001, TV movie). Shooting took place in Spain, including Madrid, from October - December 2003. The film opened #39 to a 55k $ first weekend in 23 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #29 and in 99 cinemas and grossed 2.1 mil. $ (5.5 % of the total gross). The film's biggest markets were its main production country Spain, where it was a massive hit with a 26.1 mil. $ gross (67.8 %), Germany with 2.1 mil. $ (5.5 %), a bit bigger than its 3rd biggest, North America. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars, winning for Best Foreign Film, and losing Best Makeup to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a César award, won a David di Donatello award, 2/5 European Film award nominations, an Independent Spirit award, 14/15 Goya award nominations, 2 National Board of Review awards, 3 awards at Venice Film Festival and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. Amenábar returned with Agora (2009). Bardem returned in Goya's Ghosts (2006). The Sea Inside is certified fresh at 84 % with a 7.59/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Sea Inside?

The Method/El Método (2005) - Madrid-set job interview, reality-themed thriller

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The entire cast of Marcelo Piñeyro's The Method

An unusual corporate thriller without any bloodshed, The Method is based on Jordi Galceran's (Dakota (1996)) play The Grönholm Method/El Mètode Grönholm (2003) written by Mateo Gil (The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004), co-writer) and co-writer-director Marcelo Piñeyro (Burnt Money/Plata Quemada (2000)).

7 applicants for a top corporate job meet for an advanced, collective interview that unfolds unpredictably: Following the mysterious 'Grönholm Method', the 7 are set to decimate themselves in order for the winner of the job to be found.

Several scenes play out nicely, with fast, dramatic cutting, and an invitation to guess at hints and choose sides in a reality TV-like fashion. The acting is good, and the characters believable. Without being phenomenal, it is an exciting and highly entertaining film for the most part.
The third act regrettably fumbles some of the nice work, as The Method fizzes out in intrigues and melodrama. SPOILER The woman (Najwa Nimri (Room in Rome/Habitación en Roma (2010))), who seems obviously the most competent and intelligent of the applicants, suddenly gives up and offers her male counterpart (Eduardo Noriega (Beauty and the Beast/La belle et la Bête (2014))) the job. Then she leaves down the street that has been messed up by an angry anti-IMF mob earlier in the day, (and is now seemingly totally abandoned?)
The implication of this last image, and the recurring sounds of the protestors, are very vague. So vague, in fact, as to become an annoyance. Whether they are there to be a symbolic attack on capitalism for the entire movie, or mean something else entirely, perhaps a gender point I am missing, it is too unclear, and it also seems very irrelevant for the practical thriller plot that was built up before it.
Piñeyro does well in adapting this extremely dialog-heavy play to the screen without it feeling heavy or dousing to the senses.The Method mostly plays like an intelligent and unpredictable reality TV-inspired film with good acting and humor as key ingredients.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 3.4 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.13 times the cost)
[The Method premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 115 minutes.  The film was quite successful in one of its 3 production countries Spain, where it made 2.9 mil. $ (85.3 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Argentina (another production country) with 0.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and France with 0.1 mil. $ (2.9 %). The US was among the smallest of its 8 markets with a mere 7k $ gross (0.2 %) over the course of 2 weeks in 2 theaters.The film was nominated for 5 Goya Awards and won 2, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Carmelo Gómez (Tiempo sin Aire (2015)) (the first character to leave in the film.)) Piñeyro returned with Las Viudas de los Jueves (2009). Noreiga returned in Che Guevara (2005), Nimri in Las Vidas de Celia (2006). The Method is fresh at 71 % with a 6.2/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Method?