Oceans are the Real Continents 
Directed by Tommaso Santambrogio
Written by Tommaso Santambrogio
Starring Alexander Diego, Edith Ibarra, Frank Ernesto Lam, Alain Alain Alfonso González, Milagros Llanes Martinez
Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes
In select theaters January 10

by Jonathan Jansen, Staff Writer 

Empty streets and eroding buildings, once places that used to be lived in fully, are now the home of few in the Cuban town of San Antonio De Los Baños. Those who remain stand in places now stuck in time, forgotten by those that left them. Oceans are the Real Continents (dir. Tommaso Santambrogio) follows three stories in this town of three different generations. The youngest, Fran (Frank Ernesto Lam) and Alain (Alain Alain Alfonso González) who are nine-year-old best friends with aspirations of emigrating to become baseball players for the Yankees. In their 30s, Puppeteer Edith (Edith Ibarra) and her husband Alex (Alexander Diego), a theater teacher, are preparing for Edith to leave for Italy for a show that she is working on. The oldest character is a widow, Milagros (Milagros Llanes Martinez), who listens to a radio and reads letters from the past of a lover who never made it back from war.

“Freedom is the essence of life,” is repeated by Fran, Alain, and their classmates. It’s a saying passed onto them by one of their teachers. Those in this town are emigrating in droves to seek freedom and it is a lingering thought that connects each of these stories. Freedom is seen as the goal for these characters, but Oceans are the Real Continents portrays the difficulty of leaving and those left behind. Freedom comes at a cost in each of these three stories. Fighting for freedom took away Milagros’ husband, freedom to pursue lofty career aspirations takes Edith far from Alex, and Fran’s family’s attempt to emigrate to the United States takes his father away from them for an extended period of time. Santambrogio, especially with Alex and Edith, isn’t taking sides. Instead, the director is more interested in observing these characters at this start of limbo. They are stuck as they wait for freedom to find them. Alex waits for his wife to leave for Italy, Fran waits to know when his family can be reunited, and Milagros lives out her remaining years alone. 

As Edith is working on her puppeteer show, she asks a mentor if the puppet looks sad. The mentor responds asking if the puppet is sad or if it is just alone. Loneliness is felt in nearly every frame. As the camera follows characters walking through town to do something, in almost each instance the camera shot will linger as the characters walk out of the frame. In most cases, there will be some point where there will be not one person in the frame. These lingering shots show a town that is empty. This emptiness leads to a sense of loneliness, especially with its characters. The film is also shot in black-and-white which further enhances those feelings. Santambrogio also leaves his frame gazingly on his characters. Observing them in their thoughts and loneliness. Not necessarily looking sad, but just alone. 

It can be challenging to constantly observe. There’s not much dialogue and no over the top melodrama. Instead, the film is in constant thought as character’s quietly reflect on what might be as they are stuck in limbo. It left me reflecting as best I can into the struggles of emigration. Not thinking too heavily on political or social circumstances, but on a more personal level about how these people are affected by leaving behind or being left behind. The characters share these reflections through memory and the three stories show the different stages of memories. How what we remember can be broken down into the act of making the memory, the reminiscence, and when they fade away. The fear is if these memories will fade, will they be forgotten about? It’s a feeling that’s materialized by the state of the town. Alex and Edith on a romantic escapade find themselves in an old movie theater. The curtain barely hangs on around the screen. Alex and Edith sit in a small row of seats in the back, looking at the now abandoned stage. Alex recalls a short feature that he used to watch. He’s aware that he can’t watch it and instead must relive it through memory. It’s all Alex and the town have. As the town fades so do the memories with it. Time stands still in this town, but time moves on. If the town is left behind, where does that leave the people in it? 

Eventually that reflecting pays off as these stories do reach their resolutions emotionally and in profound ways. The film has a poetic tone and rhythm to it. The title is actually a line in a poem that Edith says is Alex’s favorite. It’s fitting that these resolutions come in the form of poems, love letters, and puppet shows. These resolutions are where Santambrogio’s filmmaking talent is at its most intriguing. 

As a viewing experience, Oceans are the Real Continents has its challenges. It’s largely an observant film with a poetic tone and pace that require patience and understanding. If the viewer can gazingly look at these characters as intently as the film does, then it’s a deeply rewarding film that won’t fade away from my memory anytime soon. 

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