The Sea Inside

The Sea Inside
The Sea Inside
	Theatrical poster by Toni Galingo.
Directed by	Alejandro Amenábar
Written by	Alejandro Amenábar; Mateo Gil
Produced by	Alejandro Amenábar
Starring	Javier Bardem; Belén Rueda; Lola Dueñas; Mabel Rivera; Celso Bugallo; Clara Segura; Joan Dalmau; Alberto Jiménez; Tamar Novas
Music by	Alejandro Amenábar
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date	3 September 2004;
Running time	125 minutes
Countries	Spain; France; Italy
Languages	Spanish; Galician; Catalan
Budget	€10 million
Box office	$38,535,221

The Sea Inside (Template:Lang-es) is a 2004 Spanish film written, produced, directed and scored by Alejandro Amenábar. It is based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), a Galician ship mechanic left quadriplegic after a diving accident and his 29-year campaign in support of euthanasia and the right to end his life.

Plot summary

This is the life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his own life with dignity. The film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer suffering from Cadasil syndrome, who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible. Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value and preciousness of life. Though he could not move himself, he had an uncanny ability to move others.

Cast

Sampedro family

Javier Bardem: Ramón Sampedro
Celso Bugallo: José Sampedro, his brother
Mabel Rivera: Manuela, José's wife and Ramón's caregiver
Tamar Novas: Javier Sampedro, Ramón's nephew
Joan Dalmau: Joaquín Sampedro, Ramón and José's father

Ramon's friends

Belén Rueda: Julia
Alberto Jiménez: Germán, her husband
Lola Dueñas: Rosa
Nicolás Fernández Luna: Cristian, Rosa's elder son
Raúl Lavisier: Samuel, her younger son
Clara Segura: Gené
Francesc Garrido: Marc, her husband

Others

José María Pou: Padre Francisco, also a quadriplegic
Alberto Amarilla: Hermano Andrés
Andrea Occhipinti: Santiago
Federico Pérez Rey: Conductor (Driver)
Xosé Manuel Olveira 'Pico': Juez 1 (Judge 1)
César Cambeiro: Juez 2
Xosé Manuel Esperante: Periodista 1 (Reporter 1)
Yolanda Muiños: Periodista 2
Adolfo Obregón: Ejecutivo (Executive)
José Luis Rodríguez: Presentador (TV host)
Julio Jordán: Encuadernador (Bookbinder)
Juan Manuel Vidal: Amigo Ramón (Ramón's friend)
Marta Larralde: Muchacha en la playa (Girl on beach)

Awards

The Sea Inside won the 2004 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the 2004 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and 14 Goya Awards including awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.

Academy Awards:
- Best Foreign Language Film (winner)
- Best Achievement in Makeup (Jo Allen and Manolo García, nominee)
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics
- Grand Prix (nominee)
Broadcast Film Critics Association:
- Best Actor (Javier Bardem, nominee)
- Best Foreign Language Film (winner)
Cinema Writers Circle:
- Best Actor (Javier Bardem, winner)
- Best Cinematography (Javier Aguirresarobe, winner)
- Best Director (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee)
- Best Editing (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee)
- Best Film (nominee)
- Best New Artist (Belén Rueda, winner)
- Best Score (Alejandro Amenábar)
- Best Screenplay - Original (Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, nominee)
- Best Supporting Actor (Celso Bugallo, nominee)
- Best Supporting Actress (Lola Dueñas, winner)
- Best Supporting Actress (Mabel Rivera, nominee)
César Awards:
- Best Foreign Film (nominee)
European Film Awards:
- Best Actor (Javier Bardem, winner)
- Best Cinematographer (Javier Aguirresarobe, nominee)
- Best Director (Alejandro Amenábar, winner)
- Best Film (nominee)
- Best Screenwriter (Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, nominee)
Film Critics Circle of Australia:
- Best Foreign Language Film (winner)
Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Javier Bardem, nominee)
- Best Foreign Language Film (winner)
Goya Awards:
- Best Actor (Javier Bardem, winner)
- Best Actress (Lola Dueñas, winner)
- Best Cinematography (Javier Aguirresarobe, winner)
- Best Director (Alejandro Amenábar, winner)
- Best Film (winner)
- Best Hair and Makeup (Jo Allen, Ana López Puigcerver, Mara Collazo, Manolo García, winner)
- Best New Actor (Tamar Novas, winner)
- Best New Actress (Belén Rueda, winner)
- Best Original Score (Alejandro Amenábar, winner)
- Best Production Design (Benjamín Fernández, nominee)
- Best Production Supervision (Emiliano Otegui, winner)
- Best Screenplay - Original (Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil, winner)
- Best Sound (Juan Ferro, Alfonso Raposo, María Steinberg, Ricardo Steinberg, winner)
- Best Supporting Actor (Celso Bugallo, winner)
- Best Supporting Actress (Mabel Rivera, winner)
Independent Spirit Awards:
- Best Foreign Film (winner)
London Film Critics Circle:
- Best Foreign Language Film (nominee)
National Board of Review:
- Best Foreign Language Film (nominee)
San Diego Film Critics Society:
- Best Foreign Language Film (nominee)
Sant Jordi Awards:
- Best Film (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee)
- Best Spanish Actor (Javier Bardem, nominee)
- Best Spanish Actress (Mabel Rivera, nominee)
Satellite Awards:
- Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Javier Bardem, nominee)
- Best Foreign Film (winner)
Spanish Music Awards:
- Best Score (Alejandro Amenábar, winner)
Venice Film Festival:
- Grand Special Jury Prize (Alejandro Amenábar, winner)
- Golden Lion (nominee)
- Volpi Cup Best Actor (Javier Bardem, winner)
- Best International Film (winner)
World Soundtrack Awards:
- Best Original Soundtrack of the Year (Alejandro Amenábar, nominee)

In popular culture

In 2010, New Zealand post-punk band Body 125 released a song entitled 'A Sea Inside' written in response to the film.

The 2010 Bollywood movie Guzaarish featuring Hrithik Roshan and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was an adaptation of The Sea Inside.

External links

v t e Alejandro Amenábar
Films directed and written	Thesis (1996) Open Your Eyes (1997) The Others (2001) The Sea Inside (2004, also produced) Agora (2009, also produced) Regression (2015, also produced) While at War (2019) The Captive (2025)
Films produced	For the Good of Others (2010)
TV series directed and written	La Fortuna (2021)

v t e Films by Mateo Gil
Directed	Nobody Knows Anybody (1999) Blackthorn (2011) Realive (2016) The Laws of Thermodynamics (2018) The Minions of Midas (2020)
Written only	Tesis (1996) Open Your Eyes (1997) The Sea Inside (2004) The Method (2005) Agora (2009) Pedro Páramo (2024)

v t e Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
1947–1955 (Honorary)	1947: Shoeshine – Vittorio De Sica 1948: Monsieur Vincent – Maurice Cloche 1949: Bicycle Thieves – Vittorio De Sica 1950: The Walls of Malapaga – René Clément 1951: Rashomon – Akira Kurosawa 1952: Forbidden Games – René Clément 1953: No Award 1954: Gate of Hell – Teinosuke Kinugasa 1955: Samurai, The Legend of Musashi – Hiroshi Inagaki
1956–1975	1956: La Strada – Federico Fellini 1957: Nights of Cabiria – Federico Fellini 1958: My Uncle – Jacques Tati 1959: Black Orpheus – Marcel Camus 1960: The Virgin Spring – Ingmar Bergman 1961: Through a Glass Darkly – Ingmar Bergman 1962: Sundays and Cybèle – Serge Bourguignon 1963: 8½ – Federico Fellini 1964: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Vittorio De Sica 1965: The Shop on Main Street – Ján Kadár & Elmar Klos 1966: A Man and a Woman – Claude Lelouch 1967: Closely Watched Trains – Jiří Menzel 1968: War and Peace – Sergei Bondarchuk 1969: Z – Costa-Gavras 1970: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – Elio Petri 1971: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Vittorio De Sica 1972: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie – Luis Buñuel 1973: Day for Night – François Truffaut 1974: Amarcord – Federico Fellini 1975: Dersu Uzala – Akira Kurosawa
1976–2000	1976: Black and White in Color – Jean-Jacques Annaud 1977: Madame Rosa – Moshé Mizrahi 1978: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs – Bertrand Blier 1979: The Tin Drum – Volker Schlöndorff 1980: Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears – Vladimir Menshov 1981: Mephisto – István Szabó 1982: Volver a Empezar ('To Begin Again') – José Luis Garci 1983: Fanny and Alexander – Ingmar Bergman 1984: Dangerous Moves – Richard Dembo 1985: The Official Story – Luis Puenzo 1986: The Assault – Fons Rademakers 1987: Babette's Feast – Gabriel Axel 1988: Pelle the Conqueror – Bille August 1989: Cinema Paradiso – Giuseppe Tornatore 1990: Journey of Hope – Xavier Koller 1991: Mediterraneo – Gabriele Salvatores 1992: Indochine – Régis Wargnier 1993: Belle Époque – Fernando Trueba 1994: Burnt by the Sun – Nikita Mikhalkov 1995: Antonia's Line – Marleen Gorris 1996: Kolya – Jan Svěrák 1997: Character – Mike van Diem 1998: Life Is Beautiful – Roberto Benigni 1999: All About My Mother – Pedro Almodóvar 2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Ang Lee
2001–present	2001: No Man's Land – Danis Tanović 2002: Nowhere in Africa – Caroline Link 2003: The Barbarian Invasions – Denys Arcand 2004: The Sea Inside – Alejandro Amenábar 2005: Tsotsi – Gavin Hood 2006: The Lives of Others – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck 2007: The Counterfeiters – Stefan Ruzowitzky 2008: Departures – Yōjirō Takita 2009: The Secret in Their Eyes – Juan José Campanella 2010: In a Better World – Susanne Bier 2011: A Separation – Asghar Farhadi 2012: Amour – Michael Haneke 2013: The Great Beauty – Paolo Sorrentino 2014: Ida – Paweł Pawlikowski 2015: Son of Saul – László Nemes 2016: The Salesman – Asghar Farhadi 2017: A Fantastic Woman – Sebastián Lelio 2018: Roma – Alfonso Cuarón 2019: Parasite – Bong Joon-ho 2020: Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg 2021: Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguchi 2022: All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger 2023: The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

v t e Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Foreign Film – Foreign Language 1949–1972	Bicycle Thieves (1949) Genevieve / The Lady of the Camelias / No Way Back / Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) Children, Mother, and the General / Dangerous Curves / Eyes of Children / Ordet / Stella (1955) Before Sundown / A Girl in Black / Roses on the Arm / War and Peace / The White Reindeer (1956) Confessions of Felix Krull / Tizoc / Yellow Crow (1957) Girl and the River / The Road a Year Long / Rosemary (1958) Aren't We Wonderful? / Black Orpheus / The Bridge / Odd Obsession / Wild Strawberries (1959) The Truth / The Virgin Spring (1960) Two Women (1961) Divorce Italian Style (1962) Any Number Can Win (1963) Marriage Italian Style (1964) Juliet of the Spirits (1965) A Man and a Woman (1966) Live for Life (1967) War and Peace (1968) Z (1969) Rider on the Rain (1970) The Policeman (1971) The Emigrants / The New Land (1972)
Foreign Film 1973–1985	The Pedestrian (1973) Scenes from a Marriage (1974) Lies My Father Told Me (1975) Face to Face (1976) A Special Day (1977) Autumn Sonata (1978) La Cage aux Folles (1979) Tess (1980) Chariots of Fire (1981) Gandhi (1982) Fanny and Alexander (1983) A Passage to India (1984) The Official Story (1985)
Foreign Language Film 1986–2020	The Assault (1986) My Life as a Dog (1987) Pelle the Conqueror (1988) Cinema Paradiso (1989) Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Europa Europa (1991) Indochine (1992) Farewell My Concubine (1993) Farinelli (1994) Les Misérables (1995) Kolya (1996) Ma vie en rose (1997) Central Station (1998) All About My Mother (1999) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) No Man's Land (2001) Talk to Her (2002) Osama (2003) The Sea Inside (2004) Paradise Now (2005) Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) Waltz with Bashir (2008) The White Ribbon (2009) In a Better World (2010) A Separation (2011) Amour (2012) The Great Beauty (2013) Leviathan (2014) Son of Saul (2015) Elle (2016) In the Fade (2017) Roma (2018) Parasite (2019) Minari (2020)
Non-English Language Film 2021–present	Drive My Car (2021) Argentina, 1985 (2022) Anatomy of a Fall (2023) Emilia Pérez (2024)