The Sea (2000)
"El mar" (original title)

Two boys (Ramallo and Manuel) and a girl in the Spanish Civil War are involved in the death of other two boys, one killed, the other suicided. This terrible secret will be with them for all... See full summary »

Director:

Agustí Villaronga

Writers:

Antoni Aloy, Blai Bonet (novel),

Stars:

Roger Casamajor, Bruno Bergonzini, Antònia Torrens

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Casamajor	...	Ramallo
Bruno Bergonzini	...	Manuel
Antònia Torrens	...	Sor Francisca
Hernán González	...	Galindo
Juli Mira	...	Don Eugeni
Simón Andreu	...	Alcántara
Ángela Molina	...	Carmen
David Lozano	...	Manuel Tur
Nilo Mur	...	Andreu Ramallo
Tony Miquel Vanrell	...	Paul Inglada
Victoria Verger	...	Sor Francisca
Sergi Moreno	...	Julià Ballester
Llorenç Santamaria	...	Falangista (as Llorenç Santamaría)
Maria del Mar Bonet	...	Mare Manuel
Blai Llopis	...	Pare Manuel

Storyline

Two boys (Ramallo and Manuel) and a girl in the Spanish Civil War are involved in the death of other two boys, one killed, the other suicided. This terrible secret will be with them for all their lives. Years pass and they meet in a hospital for tuberculosis treatment. She is now a nun, Ramallo is a thief and Manuel is obsessed by religion. Reality is too hard to feel, only the sea should be the best place, where all is quiet...

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Plot Keywords:

spanish civil war | nun | animal abuse | civil war | mallorca | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Catalan

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Sea

Filming Locations:

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Well-crafted potboiler

Only the severely deluded will pretend that this film is great art or psychologically penetrating (although there is quite a bit of other penetration going on throughout). It is pure Spanish "Grand Guignol," beautifully photographed, strung out before us like a string of carefully spaced horror-cameo happenings.

The director found a novel that contained all this excrement and he really went ape over the possibilities of cramming it all into one movie. The first sequence involves five young children who witness a guerrilla-style execution during the Spanish Civil War, but only three of them survive the experience. Then the film jumps forward bout 15 years, and those 3 survivors JUST HAPPEN to find themselves in the same TB sanatorium. The 2 men are patients and interact with other supposed patients, all of whom look incredibly buff and healthy.

The shenanigans in the sanatorium have almost nothing to do with the events pictured earlier, but that is not surprising since nothing that happens in this movie has much relation to character or to reality. The gay sub-plots come strictly out of the blue, and aside from some nattering psycho-babble, there is nothing here relating to "the sea."

Having said all that, go ahead and enjoy the movie! It is almost a parody of Spanish melodrama, smartly staged by a wannabe Almodovar.