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Oceans Are the Real Continents

Name: Oceans Are the Real Continents
Director: Tommaso Santambrogio
Released: 2023
Duration: 120 min

Representation Score

6.2/10

Good

2023

Director

Tommaso Santambrogio

Runtime

120 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Oceans Are the Real Continents presents a mosaic of contemporary struggle, moving away from heroic storytelling to focus on the reality of systemic hardship. The film's strength lies in its sophisticated critique of the nation-state and traditional social cohesion. By focusing on the fragmentation of families and the urge to emigrate, it offers a poignant look at life in San Antonio De Los Baños. While the film provides deep cultural texture and ability to act to its Cuban characters, it remains within a standard heterosexual framework and lacks representation for disability or LGBTQ+ identities.

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Category Breakdown

Does Oceans Are the Real Continents have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on the relationship between Alex and Edith, but there is no indication of LGBTQ identities or non-cisgender subtext.

How does Oceans Are the Real Continents portray gender?

Fair

The story disrupts traditional hierarchies by centering women at various life stages. It highlights the significant role of Milagros, an elderly woman navigating survival and solitude.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Oceans Are the Real Continents?

Excellent

The film excels by centering non-Western perspectives in Cuba. Characters navigate a non-Anglo-Saxon socioeconomic landscape, exploring post-colonial struggles and the desire for mobility.

How does Oceans Are the Real Continents represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The story critiques traditional institutions through the lens of systemic decay. It prioritizes socio-political instability over the celebration of national identity.

Does Oceans Are the Real Continents include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no visible or audible evidence of characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities in the provided context.

Present on Screen

Strong commitment to non-Western, non-Anglo-Saxon perspectives.
Provides ability to act to elderly female characters through Milagros's survivalist narrative.
Effective critique of traditional institutions and nationalistic stability.

Limited or Absent

Lack of explicit LGBTQ+ representation or queer-coded subtext.
No visible or audible evidence of disability representation.
Relies on a standard heterosexual domestic framework for its central romance.

Official Synopsis

Alex and Edith, a young couple in their 30s, live their relationship made up of small gestures and everyday life among the ruins of Cuban buildings. Milagros, an elderly woman now retired, tries to survive by selling peanuts and spends her days listening to the radio and reading old letters. Frank and Alain, two nine-year-old friends, go to school and dream of emigrating together to the United States to become Major League Baseball players. Against the backdrop of San Antonio De Los Baños, a town in inland Cuba where time seems to stand still, these three narratives and their respective worlds unfold. Over this mosaic of contemporaneity, however, brought to life through the characters' memories, hovers the specter of separation, the true great scourge of Cuban society.

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