Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2022) User Reviews

Expectations of an absent father

[chong_an · 8/10 · 18 September 2022]

Years ago, a Ukrainian woman went to Bosnia, where she found a gangster husband, returned home to her small town, and had twin boys. Eventually he left town and she remarried, though there seemed to be a legacy of respect for the father that followed the boys.

Years later, the boys have taken very different paths. Kolya is a bus driver, drug dealer, and petty thief. Vasily is an upright, heavy-on-duty policeman who tries to look out for Kolya. Both are married with one child, and both are a disappointment to their family. Kolya receives a call from the Ukrainian consulate in Luxembourg, informing himthat their father had an accident and is dying, and the brothers (and their mother) debate whether to rush to his side. Vasily and mother worry that their father may just leave troubles and debts, while Kolya dreams of riches.

Already in trouble with the bus company for an incident caused by his short temper, Kolya gets into further trouble by knocking down a woman with his bus, impeding his plan to go to Luxembourg. The brothers eventually work something out.

From the CBC news story, this film was shot before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the director had to return to Ukraine to complete post-production. The theme of growing up with an absent father is coincidentally timely, given the diaspora of Ukrainian refugee families of women-and-children. This is the only film from Ukraine at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I suspect could be next year's Ukrainian entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Notes on the film

[graagata · 9/10 · 26 April 2023]

I'm not a movie fan and I rarely go to the cinema. But after the video about the premiere of the film Luxembourg, Luxembourg in the Ukrainian village of Blyznyuki (Twins), I decided that it must be watched. I am not disappointed, the film is excellent. It conveys the color and zeitgeist, the excellent performance of the actors, well-chosen soundtracks. More precisely, actors live, not play. It is impossible to translate jargon, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian languages, surzhik as it is called. Many beautiful scenes, funny, comic and sad moments, which are also understandable to Ukrainians.

However, I didn't like two things - when the brothers go abroad, they end up in civilization from the dark forest. Ukraine is not so wild. And I still can't come to terms with Mykola's disgusting abuse of his mother. I understand that this often happens in life. But - respect your father and mother!!! It is felt that the director had difficulties in communicating with his mother, and this is visible in the female characters in the film. But Antonio is a talented director and will surely delight us with his works. I hope.

Thanks, Team!

[EugenioKalina · 9/10 · 28 April 2023]

In order to fully appreciate all the details of the picture, you need to be familiar with the everyday life of the Ukrainian province in advance. Hear the speech of local residents, know the peculiarities of their coexistence.

The film tells about two brothers who look the same but are so different in essence. The director seems to want to show two sides of the same coin: one brother works in the police, and the other is involved in illegal activities. But it's not just about that. It is about the experiences that the brothers face after learning about their father's terminal illness. On the one hand, this is a person who gave you life, and on the other hand, a person who abandoned his sons in childhood. It's a contest between rationality and humanity.

In my opinion, this is one of the best tragicomedies in the history of Ukrainian cinema. The actors have a bright sense of humor, which they convey to their characters in the picture. Basically, they are playing themselves, but under different names. I was also surprised by the cinematography with unexpected angles, transitions and playing with landscapes.

The fact that this is only the director's second full-length film is very pleasing, and the film does not look unfinished, but deserves high marks.

What a movie, what a movie

[tsavechko · 10/10 · 16 June 2023]

So this is not my very first experience of Antonio Lukich movies. His latest "My thoughts are quiet" surprised me in the way I couldn't have imagined. This guy knows how to portray a well written story, expend it with a situational humor and spice it up with a delicious soundtrack. This film is not an exclusion. You have pair of amazing twin characters taken from a typical Ukrainian countryside. You also get a dateless problem of relations between parents and kids, but with some fresh breath in it. And of course you cannot help, but avoid the tragedy of what's going to happen with these two. You're watching the comedy, but you feel this little sticky thing that haunts you throughout the movie. This thing is the understanding of what weight those two are carrying. I'm glad to everyone who took part in creating this film. Keep it up 👍🏿

A hint to understanding Ukrainian soul

[nastya_fomina · 9/10 · 29 June 2023]

Reall gem! I believe this is a type of a movie you need to watch a few times to fully understand it. At the beginning of the story it seems to be a simple comedy that makes you laugh all the time but as the story evolves it gets more and more complex. And when the final credits start, you might start questioning yourself if you really understood the main idea of the film, storyline and main characters per se.

As movie is mostly based in Ukraine it will also give you a hint to understanding Ukrainians and their everyday life, some traditions, culture, but at the same time won't come across as something totally 'exotic' or something you can't relate to.

Real ukrainian suburban life circa 2000

[orange_times · 8/10 · 18 June 2023]

Ok this is very zeitgeist film. I think it really tries to show life of typical teenagers after collapse of Soviet Union in Ukraine. 1 type goes into unlawfull activities, in order to reach success, and other goes into law enforcing, both dont reach much success. It has a lot of cultural references to the style and realities of 90 -2000 Ukraine. It is very iteristing how 2 brothers view Luxemburg and Europe as a whole as a land of rich people, but this Europe will not give anything in the end. For some it is a new start from scratch, and for some it is understanding that their future is in this ukranian reality.

Non-inclusive and predictable, but not bad at all

[dima-skorokhod · 7/10 · 21 October 2023]

Not bad at all. I watched this movie with pleasure and noticed the creators' great attention to detail. I'm all the more sorry that the film was disappointing in some aspects.

Minus one point for non-inclusive portrayal of people with mental disorders. There's a scene where police arrest a man who has just been discharged from a mental hospital and is beating his wife. This doesn't correspond to modern ideas about respect for differently abled people.

Minus one point for making fun of women on maternity leave. Women and men who raise small children also deserve respect, not ridicule, even indirectly.

And minus one point for the predictability of the plot. The ending was too predictable.