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 sneak peek into Maltase coastline life.

Not a very engaging storyline, yet the freshness of location did make a difference.

With a feel of history, passion, family, business, money, corruption elements the movie is watchable.

"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.

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.

Old wine in new jugs. With the advent of globalization and modernization, many ancient ways of life have been forced to die out, sadly but inexorably. The author leaves behind a possible answer: if these relics are the same "Ship of Theseus", then they can be eternal.