Customer Reviews
A sea of emotion - By: Shimacat, 13 Sep 2008 
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 & hope. What it is is a masterfully-acted sweep of underplayed emotion & artistic film-making which simply captivates. The acting is superb. There are characters here who make you weep - not through overplaying the emotionally-charged subject matter, but by quietly shouldering the events that life has thrown at them, dealing with them, & simply making the best of them. Optimism & despair are threaded through every minute of this film.
The film itself is breathtaking. There are long shots of the landscape & the sea; these, set against the tightly-framed shots set inside the quadriplegic Ramon's room, eloquently speak of his captive physical life while his mind is flying free. Amazing.
Inspirational - By: Hugh Garske, 02 Aug 2008 
Javier Bardem is astonishingin 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 himselfin 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, & the ability to engage & charm those around him.
Extraordinary and moving film - By: Bluebell, 10 Apr 2008 This is a superb film that deals sensitively with the difficult subject of assisted suicide & 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 & 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 Spanish law; & the lack of understanding by the able-bodied. All this donein the frame-work of a beautifully crafted film with a story that carries one along wanting to know how it ends.
After watching the film I felt I'd had a memorable & moving experience.
Worth your time - By: Dinky, 16 Feb 2008 I came to this after seeing Bardemin "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 & fly above the landscape the way the lead character, Ramon, fantasized he could fly. It comes down on Ramon's side without being too heavy-handed, & the viewer can come away understanding -- or at least, sympathizing with -- his desire to die without feeling bludgeoned into dropping any beliefs, pro-euthanasia or otherwise. (I confess to being on the fence about thisin the conviction that I cannot decide about something this personal & vital without finding myselfin a similar situation.) As it is, you sympathize with them all -- including the ones that hold views which may oppose your own.
Superb acting - By: J. Boulton, 06 Feb 2008 Javier Bardem is magnificentin this hugely touching story. he is passionate but not over the top, he gives his character a genunity that is so appealing. the film itself is dramatic & beautifully made (as with most foreign films that is). i highly recommend this for anybody intersetedin Euthanasia & good acting.
