A suicide far from painless

Javier Bardem (centre) as Ramun Sampedro, battling anti-euthanasia laws
Metro10 April 2012

From battling anti-euthanasia laws in The Sea Inside and getting lost in translation in Spanglish to lots of concerts and lots of sex in the controversial 9 Songs, we give you a round-up of all the latest DVD releases...

  • The Sea InsideAlejandro (The Others) Amenabar considers the true story of quadriplegic Ramun Sampedro, who fought for years to be legally allowed to commit suicide in The Sea Inside. Not what you'd call a promising topic, but Javier Bardem is so complex and beguiling as Sampedro and Amen·bar treats his quest with such inventiveness and sympathy that this film is pure pleasure. With dictator Franco dead, Sampedro argued that a secular state should discard the Church-inspired prohibition on suicide. Of course, it wasn't that simple and, although Sampedro was surrounded by devoted women - a right-todie lawyer, his stoic sister-inlaw and a besotted local woman - none of them was prepared to give him what he wanted. Amen·bar doesn't make his hero a saint and doesn't shrink from showing us the horror of a bright, fascinating man rendered helpless. Yet his camera swooping after Sampedro's imagination out of the bedroom window and down to the sea is pure exhilaration. Extras: Director's commentary, deleted scenes and making-of featurette.
  • My Summer Of LoveMona (Nathalie Press) is a Yorkshire orphan living with her born-again ex-con brother in smalltown boredom. So when she meets glamorous, wealthy Tamsi (Emily Blunt), her delight quickly becomes full-blown hero-worship. My Summer Of Love is a far less unusual film than Pawel Pawlikowski's previous effort, Last Resort, but its portrayal of adolescent fierceness and fragility is unsettlingly convincing. Mona and Tamsin are both, in different ways, neglected and unhappy. Their friendship, which becomes a love affair, has a sticky intensity no adult bonding could equal. The denouement isn't much of a surprise - big climaxes really aren't Pawlikowski's thing - but it's hard not to get caught up in the girls' passions, manipulations and betrayals. Extras: None.
  • 9 Songs The nine songs in 9 Songs are terrific: The Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and others, all filmed live on stage. Director Michael Winterbottom loves music and knows how to relay that love. Other kinds of passion, however, don't always work for him. This is the story of the relationship between Matt (Kieran O'Brien) and Lisa (Margo Stilley), which consists of lots of concerts and lots of sex (well, until theend, when there's less sex). The actors, notoriously, actually have sex but the endless shagging is neither titillating nor interesting. The same, sadly, is true of bony, self-absorbed Lisa and her pathetically downtrodden swain. Cunningly, though, you can cut out the coupling and just watch the concerts.Extras: Concert-only facility, cast and Winterbottom interviews and anti-censorship intro.
  • SpanglishGorgeous, vibrant Paz Vega seems to be going the way of Penelope Cruz - boring us all with her Hollywood efforts. It's not her fault: in Spanglish, writer/director James L Brooks mummifies her as saintly Mexican mother Flor, the cleaner for a neurotic American family, who finds it harder to keep her sanity than she suspected. Her employer, Tea Leoni, is a quivering bundle of narcissism, while the man of the family, top chef Adam Sandler, is so passive he could be part of the furnishings. Only Cloris Leachman as boozy Grandma gets to have any fun at all and that's because she gets the best lines - all two of them.Extras: Director and crew commentary, making-of featurette and featurette on sandwich-making by top chef Thomas Keller.

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