Contains euthanasia themeTerminal illness movies always set out to be life affirming, but few earn their uplifting conclusions as convincingly as this Spanish biopic about a quadriplegic desperate to die. Latin hunk Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) delivers an Oscar-worthy performance from the neck up as Ramón Sampedro. Paralysed in an accident and confined to a bed for 25 years, he's convinced that "a life in this condition has no dignity" and battles the courts for the right to kill himself.
Aged 20 years, confined to bed and unable to move anything other than his facial muscles, Bardem captures the hope and despair of a man convinced that life has nothing left for him. A bold, humane performance, it makes you sympathise completely with his wish to die. Yet, you also realise just how precious this sharp-witted man's life is to those around him: Rosa (Lola Dueñas), a single mum with a crush on him and icily beautiful lawyer Julia (Belén Rueda), who has her own reasons for wanting his case to succeed.
"AMENÁBAR'S FILM EXCELS"
Ultimately, this isn't a film about death, but about life. Tortured by missing the freedom he once enjoyed, Sampedro is plagued by visions of his past. It's here that director Alejandro Amenábar - who shot to fame with creepy ghost flick The Others - excels. As the roving camera swoops out of Sampedro's bedroom to the hills, the beach and the ever-present sea, this poignant tale silently reminds us how fortunate we are to be able to choose life.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
