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Beyond The Sea

2003, Movie, NR, 80 mins

Beyond The Sea: Review

BEYOND THE SEA | MAS ALLA DEL MAR
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Not to be confused with the 2004 Bobby Darin biopic, Lisandro Perez-Rey's excellent documentary is a riveting account of one of the most extraordinary events in U.S. immigration history: the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, which brought some 130,000 Cubans to U.S. shores. In fact, the powerful images of their arrival — thousands upon thousands of desperate men, women and children packed to overflowing on small boats — were so dramatic that the events leading up to their departure from Cuba have all but been obscured. Perez-Rey's succinct documentary does a superb job of shedding light on circumstances that, for a variety of reasons, have been misrepresented and badly misunderstood, and tells the story primarily from the point of view of the "Marielitos" themselves. Consequently, the film takes an unavoidably dim view of life in Fidel Castro's Cuba. It begins by accounting for the disillusionment that, on April 4, 1980, led a Havana bus driver to crash his vehicle through the gates of the Peruvian embassy and encouraged thousands of Cubans to push their way onto the grounds and claim political asylum. Incensed and hugely embarrassed by this public show of dissent, Castro eventually relented and, in order to clear the embassy, granted those of the 10,000 protestors who could arrange transportation out of Cuba certificates of safe passage that ensured their later departure. For some, the waiting was the hardest part — they were quickly targeted as traitors by violent mobs who pelted them with eggs, bottles and rocks. Meanwhile in the U.S., friends and relatives scrambled to hire boats to ferry the refugees from Mariel Bay to Key West. But even after the flotilla set sail, the Marielitos' ordeal was far from over. Herded into what many describe as nothing less than a "concentration camp" for weeks on end, the refugees began noticing that many of their fellow passengers hadn't been at the embassy. Some were clearly mentally ill, others were hardened criminals. It soon became clear that Castro had begun emptying Cuban prisons and mental institutions with the intention of shipping their inmates to the U.S. along with the political refugees. In addition to the Marielitos who speak movingly of their experiences and the loved ones they left behind, Perez-Rey interviews several boat captains and crew members who made the historic journey to Mariel Bay. Cuban-American photographer Mario Ruiz, who rode shotgun on a rescue boat, is also on hand to describe this remarkable event, and his photos provide some of the film's most unforgettable images. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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