The Sea Inside (PG) will be eagerly anticipated by discerning cinema-goers.
The Golden Globe winner is now the best foreign film Oscar favourite - though I'd personally like to see a French gem called The Chorus (which opens here on March 11) pip it to the post.
Spanish great Javier Bardem (Collateral/ The Dancer Upstairs) plays Ramon Sampedro, a quadriplegic who wants to top himself.
But he can't do it alone and, in any case, he's still able to smile and inspire others to fulfil their lives.
Based on a true story about a man who fought a 30-year campaign in favour of euthanasia and his own right to die, The Sea Inside is superbly directed by Alejandro Amen·bar (The Others).
He orchestrates a fabulous flying sequence typical of many people's dreams and anyone who is ordinarily moved by Nessun Dorma will need hankies.
If there's a rather superfluous romantic diversion, there's a great cigarette joke and a wonderfully inventive climax to savour.
Like Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her, another Spanish 2002 film about a woman lying in a coma, this slow-burning 126-minute drama makes no apologies for taking you to life's darker side.
But, once again, the considerable reward is to feel all the more alive afterwards.
