Luzzu (2021)

By: Mike Ward on Sunday, November 28

NR Running Time: 94 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Fans of international cinema will find Malta’s second-ever entry into the Oscar race, Luzzu, a compelling domestic drama that shines a lot on a part of the world we do not typically see on screen.
As director, writer, co-producer and editor, this is an impressive debut for filmmaker Alex Camilleri.
With a first-time actor in the leading role, Camilleri has created a film which feels almost like a documentary, but is strong enough from a narrative standpoint to paint a far-ranging picture of economy, society, and life on the tiny Mediterranean island.

NO

Luzzu is not going to speak to folks who only watch films with superheroes, big name celebrities and massive budgets.
Even for those initiated in the storytelling, Camilleri struggles at times to connect viewers unfamiliar with the fishing trade in Malta and the significance of why Jesmark, the lead character, is forced to make certain decisions.
Though not steeped in tragedy, the film lacks a lot of uplift or joy. These are people in varying places of desperation, and the film reflects that despair and anxiety.

OUR REVIEW

For just the second time in their history, the Mediterranean island nation of Malta has qualified a film for consideration for the Academy Award for Best International Film. Though Malta has been the chosen destination for film productions like the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion, HBO series “Game of Thrones,” and films like Murder on the Orient Express and World War Z in the past, the homegrown Maltese film industry is small and largely underrepresented.

Luzzu steps forward from the shadows and offers us a glimpse into a fisherman’s life; namely, one who is struggling to make ends meet. The film is a labor of love for writer, director, editor, and co-producer Alex Camilleri and is starting to gain some attention stateside as it receives a theatrical release and buzz for potentially landing the small country of approximately 500,000 people its first Oscar nomination.

That previous Oscar selection, 2014’s Shimsar was a harrowing story of a fishing boat explosion and a family’s efforts to survive while stranded at sea. Though based on actual events, Shimsar was a different type of film, with heights bigger and larger than Luzzu. Though both films begin with the fishing industry as a jumping off point, Camilleri has essentially created something more akin to the kitchen sink realism of British cinema.

In many ways, Camilleri reaps rewards. Luzzu is a hard-scrabble, gritty movie at times, focusing on the temptations to cut corners and look the other way in the interest of improving one’s situation. We focus on Jesmark (Jesmark Scicluna), a hard-working fisherman scraping to get by in a world increasingly occupied by larger companies and an infusion of wealth from outside of the country. Though his work is generational, his trusted “luzzu” (fishing boat) is in dire need of repair and Jesmark is now a father, celebrating the recent birth of a son with his girlfriend Denise (Michela Farrugia).

As we begin to piece together Jesmark’s situation, Denise recognizes the need for help and brings her parents into the fold to help provide much-needed medical care for their son and allow her the opportunity to work consistently. As more of his friends have cashed out and left the trade, she sees Jesmark’s future, and in turn their collective future, before he does.

Luzzu explores the cutthroat world of commercial fishing, but it also overlays the complications of Malta’s decision to join the European Union in 2004 as a framework with which to hang this story. In a recent study of the impacts borne from that decision, researchers determined that the EU had done little to develop Malta’s economic sustainability and that the goods and services produced on the island were of declining quality.

Struggle and poverty and livelihood are a catalyst to what drives Jesmark to make the eventual decision to pursue becoming involved in an underground black market fishing operation. The cash begins to pile up and stresses seem to alleviate. However, Jesmark’s conscience, and the legacy behind his luzzu, cause him to constantly question his decisions and deal with an internal tumult that may change him forever.

Luzzu is a good film, strong at times. Scicluna is a first-time actor and the film does retain a cinéma vérité feel at times as Camilleri embeds with the work and workers to give us a realistic look at a generational industry teetering on the edge of collapse.

Whether or not Malta earns its first-ever Oscar nomination is too soon to tell, but Luzzu is one of those gravelly, neo-realist dramas that succeeds in bringing us closer to a reality we seldom see, while spotlighting an underrepresented people and country in a new and enlightening way.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Jesmark Scicluna, Frida Cauchi, Michela Farrugia, Marta Vella, Uday McLean, David Scicluna, Yuric Allison, Stephen Buhagier, Joseph Scicluna

Director: Alex Camilleri
Written by: Alex Camilleri
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Kino Lorber

Fans of international cinema will find Malta’s second-ever entry into the Oscar race, Luzzu, a compelling domestic drama that shines a lot on a part of the world we do not typically see on screen.

As director, writer, co-producer and editor, this is an impressive debut for filmmaker Alex Camilleri.

With a first-time actor in the leading role, Camilleri has created a film which feels almost like a documentary, but is strong enough from a narrative standpoint to paint a far-ranging picture of economy, society, and life on the tiny Mediterranean island.

Luzzu is not going to speak to folks who only watch films with superheroes, big name celebrities and massive budgets.

Even for those initiated in the storytelling, Camilleri struggles at times to connect viewers unfamiliar with the fishing trade in Malta and the significance of why Jesmark, the lead character, is forced to make certain decisions.

Though not steeped in tragedy, the film lacks a lot of uplift or joy. These are people in varying places of desperation, and the film reflects that despair and anxiety.