Luzzu

Malta's official submission to 2022's Oscars is beautiful, authentic, simple and emotional. Story is interesting and in a simple beautiful way it tackles powerful topics like sacrifice, tradition and family. It's that kind of movies that say so much by saying almost nothing. Lead performance is superb.

A man attempts to keep up the family tradition of fishing with a small wooden boat. Malta makes a stunning setting for the story. The EU has made it almost impossible for the small time fishermen to make a living. The underground economy is a dark and sad commentary on globalization. The cast is excellent and Luzzu is one of the best films of the year.

This was a well acted and beautifully shot film. The story is a slow burn about a man who came from a long line of fisherman in a changing economy where his trade is quickly dying off. The protagonist is faced with many existential questions about his life, how to provide for his family, fairness, and ultimately his role in a changing world. While the film can come off as very slow, I felt the ending really made the story feel quite important.

"Luzzu" is a sensitive film, full of allegory, and a stupendous and extraordinary performance by Jesmark Scicluna as Jesmark, a many-generation Maltese fisherman who struggles to choose between his passion for the sea and his family in the land. The director manages to draw so much reality and emotions from both Jesmark Scicluna and Filip Sertic that their passion for fishing is very clear. The film is spectacular in showing the simplicity of fishermen against the underground fishing black market, the contradictions between tradition or falling into the unfair capitalist world, going after their dreams ("...a fish stays in a bowl never grows...' or family stability.

As one reviewer stated so well: "It's that kind of movies that say so much by saying almost nothing.".

As one reviewer stated so well: "It's that kind of movies that say so much by saying almost nothing.".

I also want to point out that the plot of this movie serves much to the current big film industry: How is it possible that a movie like this or the performance of the ensemble cast is ignored by the major award competitions????? Yeah!!!! Small and beautifully fish fighting against big sharks.

"Luzzu" starts innocently enough with a solitary fisherman plying his trade, and though it touches on a wide variety of big topics - fatherhood, tradition, working-class struggles, Brexit" as well as a thoughtful character study, it never loses the charm of the opening minutes. A story about a third generation Maltese fisherman, played by an actual Maltese fisherman, not only feels true, but has a warm vibe only good fiction can bring. You can almost smell the sea breeze.

Stamped with his baby footprint, "Luzzu" is the colourful family boat passed down for generations, that serious family man Jesmark Scicluna puts to sea on a daily basis. Trouble is the fishing industry is morphing into an unsustainable one, for the little guys anyway. A new born with special medical needs, and thus costs, puts a strain on the family, and Jesmark is asked to consider a career change.

Squeezed by big fish, various restrictions, and cutthroat, often illegal competition, this really is a lone man vs. The sea tale. While Jesmark's decision is a life altering one, and deftly describes the current political situation of many smaller European strugglers, it plays second fiddle to the personal trials of the defiant fisherman. A man of few words, he carries the weight of his world on broad shoulders, seeking to hold on to his heritage right to the breaking point.

Though forced to play the new game in town, a seemingly beaten Jesmark closes the movie with a moving parable to his infant son. A story about a boat, which over the years has been patched up so many times that very little of it remains, but yet, it still remains that boat. "Luzza" is a clever and affectionate tale about conflict, struggle, family, and the determination to retain one's humanity. A winner all around.

• hipCRANK.