Seeking Escape While Enduring the Harsh Realities of Poverty, Oppression & Racism – BRAZILIAN PRESS // O maior jornal brasileiro fora do Brasil

By Roger Costa
OCEANS ARE THE REAL CONTINENTS
Influenced by Italian Neorealism and following the footsteps of Roberto Minervini in the process of exploring other cultures as a foreigner, Italian director Tommaso Santambrogio makes a promising directorial debut with this visually stunning, poetic and observational triptych drama.
Tackling the beauty, longing, hope and hardship of Cuban life, the director captures the challenges of daily living in all of its naturalist forms with majestic lenses.

Cutting the film in three separate stories revolving on the expectation to leave the country for a better economic status, Santambrogio demonstrates confidence with the material, going back and forth to the action, never losing pace or coherence in the poetic narrative structure: a kid is determined to become a baseball star while looking out for his little brother and enduring his parents’ constant disputes; a couple of artists, she is a puppeteer and he’s a drama teacher, goes on a countryside trip before making life changing decisions; an aging lonely woman longs for her partner, seeking to ease her sorrow through the letters he’s written while in military service. In a particularly memorable scene, after a heavy storm, she hangs up the letters in order to dry up after the flooding. Visiting these characters randomly, accompanied by the glorious, seductive B&W cinematography, observing their reactions and expectations while trying to hold them together (and keep them safely, in pieces), Santambrogio makes a remarkable love letter to Cuba, its people and culture, and to neorealism. Filled with cinematic poetry this is a triumphant directorial debut.
(Film Movement. 1/10. Film Forum).

FROM GROUND ZERO
Shortlisted for the upcoming Oscars contending in the Best International Film category, representing Palestine, this alarming compilation of 22 shorts from Palestinian filmmakers and artists is an essential, necessary view. Through the perspective of their own people, their struggle, truamas, experiences with war and oppression we are immersed into the war zone, but mostly into their hope and joy. Blending fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental, it is a testimony of a devastating humanitarian crime happening right in front of our eyes.
(Watermelon Pictures. Now Playing at Quad Cinema).

THE ORDER
Crafted with old-fashioned elements that resemble the aesthetic of a Coen Brothers pic, director Justin Kurzel delivers an outstanding investigative dramatic thriller fueled by two Oscar caliber performances: Jude Law giving a raw, intriguingly melancholic turn as a tormented FBI agent, and Nicholas Hoult as Bob Matthews, one of the criminal leaders of a white supremacist group. Based in real events and set in 1980s rural Washington, the film explores the terrorist acts of the group and the challenges faced by the FBI agents, which adds up the incredible Tye Sheridan as the young partner of the law. The cinematographer Adam Arkapaw shots one of the season’s best works, creating claustrophobic moments while shooting enhanced exterior light. It is a fast paced, masterly executed and perfectly acted thriller. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this appears at the Oscar nominations sheet next next.
(Vertical Entertainment. Now playing exclusively at Cinema Village).