Do you want to learn more about Spanish culture and language? 💃 Then it’s time for you to do so through its extensive literature and cinema. 📚🎬
You might be surprised how much literary and cinematographic works can contribute to your learning of Spanish. 👀
And while the list of options is extensive, we’ve done the work for you and brought you a curated list of must-have titles for your study journey. 😊
We’ll tell you about our Spanish Film & Literature Workshops 🎉
In this series of workshops, you can learn more about these pieces, such as the one we will dive into today.
Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) is one of the films that you will be able to find in the workshop, and here we give you a brief review so that you will be encouraged to join us in our next sessions. 🙌
Ready to discover this piece of Hispanic cinema? Join us to get to know it. 🕺
Mar adentro (The Sea Inside)
This film revolves around the story of Ramón Sampedro, a 54-year-old bedridden man. This situation has left him dependent on his family, as he cannot move due to an accident.
While Ramón has not stopped appreciating every effort his family and friends make for him, he is in a complicated emotional state. The man remembers his life before the accident; he was an active person and a sports lover.
This reflection on his life has led him to think about euthanasia, which leads to an arduous journey through his struggle for a dignified death, in which he will encounter many adversities.
“A freedom that takes away life is not freedom. And a life that takes away freedom is not life either” – Mar adentro (The Sea Inside).
The first to oppose his euthanasia are his relatives, especially his older brother. Ramón’s brother José dislikes the idea of seeing his brother die and worries about the legal consequences of the process. It was not a legal practice at the time.
However, this did not stop Ramon, who, with the help of his best friend, Gene, an active participant in an organisation that advocates for euthanasia rights, build a case to take to court.
In this process, Ramón meets Julia, the lawyer who will be in charge of handling his case and who also suffers from a chronic illness. During their days together, Julia and Ramón create a strong bond, which leads Ramón to fall in love with her. This relationship makes Julia doubt the process, but Ramón remains faithful to his goal.
In addition to Julia and Ramón’s family, various characters try to make the protagonist think about his decision. Among them is Rosa, his neighbour, who religiously reads him the newspaper daily.
Together they try to make Ramón see that life is worth living despite his circumstances and desire to end his life.
Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) is based on actual events and seeks to expose Ramón’s story’s impact when he revealed a taboo subject such as euthanasia.
This sparked debate in the country and was a widely covered case by the Spanish media. And although he did not manage to do so legally, finally, after 30 years, he was able to rest by asserting his will not to continue living in such conditions.
Alejandro Amenábar
The director of Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) is a renowned screenwriter, composer, and film director born in Chile. However, he has dual nationality, Spanish and Chilean.
Amenábar has won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for Mar adentro (The Sea Inside). In addition, he also received nine Goya Awards for his other films.
“I realised what it meant to be a director with Hitchcock. I learned about his obsession with cinema, perfection, and depth from Kubrick. But I’d like to be like Spielberg; he’s the one who knows the craft best”. – Alejandro Amenábar
Beyond his incredible career as a director, Amenábar also has an excellent talent for music. He has composed the melodies for several of his works, adding extra value to his commitment to each project.
Another of his most famous works was The Others, which starred Nicole Kidman. He also had the opportunity to work with Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke in the film Regression.
Alejandro Amenábar is, without a doubt, a talented director with an impressive library of work that you can’t miss.
Ready to put your knowledge to the test? Complete this activity and put what you learned today into practice!
Would you like to prepare for the Pearson Edexcel Spanish A-Level exam with us?
Spanish Express offers different Spanish A-Level programmes for adolescents and adults as part of our language tuition services.
We provide an online learning experience for students across the globe with our Spanish A-Level Private Tuition.
You can prepare for the Pearson Edexcel Spanish A level with us and take the exam for the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Spanish in our London exam centre!
On the other side, our Spanish Express’ Spanish film & literature Ultimate Workshops can be offered to individual students and Sixth Form Colleges, where a single or a series of bespoke workshops can be organised for an A-Level group.
With these workshops, you will be very well prepared and ready to take the Pearson Edexcel Paper 2: Written response to works and translation in Spanish.
Please contact us for a free consultation whether you need help with Spanish individual private tuition, the Spanish academic year programme, or simply general information about Spanish Film & Literature workshops or the Spanish Homestay Immersion Programmes in Spain.
Find more works like Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) on Spanish Express!
Did you like this summary? 👀 You can read many more about the pieces we have available by going to the main page of our blog. 📱
There are more than 20 titles to choose from when you join our Spanish Film & Literature Workshops. 💃
From fantasy, like Pan’s Labyrinth, history, such as The 13 Roses, and dramas, like The Official Story. 🙌
We have a wide range of titles; check them out on our website! 👏
Choose your favourite and join us for the following sessions.
We’ll be waiting for you! 🤘
Ginnette Di Damaso
Spanish Express Blogger
