From Omeleto.
A cowboy takes a road trip.
THE BACKLANDS SHALL SEA is used with permission from Rodrigo Cesar. Learn more at https://allscreensfilms.com.br.
Bento is a farmhand and cowboy from the Brazilian backlands who has worked on a farm on his life, toiling away from an unsympathetic boss. When he learns that the farm will be sold, he takes the opportunity to abandon everything he’s known. Dreamy and imaginative, he cherished an old postcard of a point on the coast, sent by someone beloved in his past, and he decided to travel there.
Accompanied by his befuddled but loyal best friend, Cico, Bento encounters traveling theater performers, hardened criminals and alluring bar owners on his way to the ocean. Often digging his own holes to fall into, Bento finds himself in tricky situations and mustering luck and courage to get out of them, and the quest to see the sea will redefine his life and change his understanding of himself.
Directed by Rodrigo Cesar, this warmhearted Oscar-longlisted short road-trip dramedy is on the longer side of a short, but that time is well-spent, giving viewers a sense of the Brazilian landscapes as Bento travels from the backlands to the coastal city where he ends up. Along the way, the film also traverses a range of tones and emotional registers, starting with the almost farcical, as the storytelling sets up Bento’s initial life and character. Wide-eyed, naive and prone to outlandish and colorful mental flights of fancy, Bento has always loved the ocean, though he’s never been there: he’s nursed a fascinating for the sea for a long time, carrying an old postcard of the ocean, sent to him from a loved one long ago.
Chasing after a runaway goat, Bento soon learns the farm will be sold, he decides to embark on a journey to finally see the ocean, sending the film into the realm of the picaresque, as Benton and Cico careen from one misadventure to another. Along the way, Benton has various encounters with other characters. Some exchanges are portrayed with weathered, open honesty and authenticity, while others have a sly, mischievous sense of controlled chaos. But they all have a solid eye and ear for well-written character and humor, portrayed with deft, dynamic direction. With each conversation, Bento grows, though it’s a testament to actor Tay Lopez’s remarkable performance that his wide-eyed hope and openness never falter, making him a charming, endearing character to root for and care about.
The road trip aspect of THE BACKLANDS SHALL SEA is an enjoyable journey, filmed with a wonderful eye for detail and a feel for the varied landscapes of Brazil. But it never loses track of Bento’s emotional journey, driven by his lifelong desire to see the coast. That desire is a deeper longer for love and identity, as Bento unravels the mysteries that have defined his life. What he discovers at the film’s moving, tenderhearted end is poignant, even quite sad, but the film’s great heart is how the realization affirms something essential about Bento’s spirit. His journey rewards his hope and optimism in life, and his heart remains as big as the horizon he finally sees, with happiness and sorrow as two sides of the coin called love.
