By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Tommaso Santambrogio
Starring: Alain Alain Alfonso González | Alexander Diego | Edith Ibarra | Frank Ernesto Lam
Original language title: Los océanos son los verdaderos continentes
Year: 2025
Running time: 118
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28635355
Jeff says: “An early season favorite for me. Filmed in Cuba by an Italian director and crew, OCEANS ARE THE REAL CONTINENTS takes its cue, fittingly, from Italian neorealism, telling three proletarian stories set in a small town in the country’s interior. An old widow reads her long-lost husband’s letters. A couple comes to terms with a looming emigration. Two boys dream of playing baseball in America. It is a beautiful film to watch and beautiful to listen to. The actors are non-professionals, and the acting is refreshingly natural, with some of the best performances turned in by the kids. I can’t think of anything wrong with it. 5 cats.”
Michael says: “Three stories focusing on residents of different generations living in the inland town of San Antonio, Cuba illustrate separation in OCEANS ARE THE REAL CONTINENTS, a gorgeous and poignant debut feature from Italian writer/director Tommaso Santambrogio. Alex and Edith are a young couple in their 20’s both theatrical artists, who face a critical turning point when Edith receives the opportunity to go to Italy and has no intention of returning. Frank and Alain are childhood pals who dream of becoming famous ball players for the New York Yankees, living with their families in neighboring mansions despite the real threat of Frank’s family emigrating to the U.S. in the near future. Milagros is solitary woman in her later years still mourning the loss of her husband in the Angola War years in the past. The three stories all take place in the same town, but they rarely intersect, and even then only incidentally. Yet they tall the story of Cuba in a profoundly moving way, highlighted by the stunning black & white cinematography. Sound Design is also stunning with the wind morphing into the ocean tides, then once more into a burning car in a marvelous sequence. All the characters are played by non-actors, and do a stellar job; a tribute to this new director’s skills. 4 cats“