PLOT: After the diving accident that leaves him a quadriplegic, a Galician man fights for the right to die a dignified death. Regardless of the subject matter, this is a film about the wonder of being alive.

The Sea Inside is a magical film about many forms of love and about the energy of life. The movie is based on events in the life of Ramon Sampedro, a Galician ship mechanic who was paralyzed and bed-ridden for 30 years. Sampedro is always hopeful -- hopeful that he'll die soon. He petitions the government to allow him to die with dignity.

Sampedro's humour and intellect are cleary conveyed in The Sea Inside; the title comes from his book, Letters From Hell, and he was also a published poet.

The heart of The Sea Inside are the relationships between Sampedro and the people around him.

Javier Bardem (The Dancer Upstairs; Before Night Falls) portrays Sampedro in a performance that has already been recognized with several awards.

Just as impressive is the rest of the cast: Sampedro's father is played by Joan Dalmau, his older brother by Celso Bugallo and his sister-in-law (and main care-giver) by Mabel Rivera -- these are the family members who cared for Sampedro every day for almost 30 years.

Belen Rueda plays a lawyer who initially takes on Sampedro's case because of her own degenerative disease. Lola Duenas plays a neurotic local woman who falls in love with Sampedro and becomes one of his closest allies.

The Sea Inside shows why Sampedro wants to leave and why everyone who knows him hopes he won't.

Sampedro survives through his imagination, even visiting the sea in his mind's eye; these sequences, courtesy of cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, are wholly transporting.

The Sea Inside was shown here first during the Toronto film festival last fall. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. Bring Kleenex.

(This film is rated PG)

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