‘Luxembourg, Luxembourg’: Venice Review

Dir/scr: Antonio Lukich. Ukraine. 2022. 106 mins.

Absence only makes the heart grow fonder in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, a boisterous, bittersweet family saga from writer/director Antonio Lukich. True events are the basis of a film in which Ukrainian twin brothers rush to the distant bedside of an ailing father whom they have barely known. Cherished childhood memories, awkward questions and cold reality blend in a sprightly tale sparked by winning performances from rappers-turned-actors Amil and Ramil Nasirov. Strong international interest should follow the high-profile launch of Venice and Toronto premieres.

The film has a quirky comic energy that expresses itself visually

Described as a “declaration of love to my father,” Lukich’s second feature, after My Thoughts Are Silent (2019), is deftly poised between jocularity and heartache as it confronts elements of his past. Ultimately, he questions whether the comfort of imperfect recollection is better than knowing the whole truth about our parents’ lives.

There is a Scorsese-like snap and swagger to the prologue. Snaking, fast-flowing camerawork boosts the energy level. Boney M’s ’Daddy Cool’ blasts on the soundtrack. In the Lubny of 1998, 7 year-old twins Kolya (Adrian Suleiman) and Vasya (Damian Suleiman) are full of mischief, too cool for school and up for an adventure. That’s why Kolya winds up a stowaway on a speeding goods train and needs his father to rescue him. A good deal of philosophical voice-over informs us that their mother had gone to Serbia in search of cheap jeans and leather jackets, only to return with two kids and a Yugoslav husband. The man has been mythologized since their birth.

Twenty years later, Vasya (Ramil Nasirov) is a married cop dedicated to serving the public. Kolya (Amil Nasirov) works in “passenger transportation” (he’s a bus driver), deals drugs and still lives at home with their mother. Their father has been gone for those two decades. Then, they receive a call from the Ukrainian consulate in Luxembourg informing them that their father is in hospital. He cannot speak, which is rather convenient for the plot. If they want to say goodbye, they need to come and visit. Kolya feels as if his father is leaving them for a second time and is desperate to make the trip. Vasya takes more persuading.

Lukich uses the time it takes to arrange passports and plan a road trip to provide us with insights into the brothers’ lives. The film has a quirky comic energy that expresses itself visually. There is much warm amusement over Kolya’s diminutive stature and tiny feet. He needs to sit on three books to boost his height and fit the frame of the passport photo machine. A changing-room encounter with Uncle Slava, aka The Brick, finds him virtually disappearing in the older, bulkier man’s fleshy embrace.

Kolya’s callous disregard for passenger safety has led to an official complaint from Larysa Petrivna (an excellent performance from the late Lyudmyla Sachenko). Left with two broken arms after falling from his bus, she is determined to see justice done. His attempts to woo her with chocolates and change her mind have a sweet charm to them as we discover a different side to his personality.

Vasya seems his polar opposite in terms of personality, but he is at the mercy of an unhappy wife and a disappointing career. In many respects, they have both suffered from the father’s flight and the loss of a role model. It is only around the one-hour mark that the brothers leave Lubny and head to Luxembourg. The little twists and revelations that follow are not always surprising but carry emotional heft because Lukich has invested screen time in getting to know the brothers.

Told with a fizzy energy, the film boasts an eclectic soundtrack that stretches from Ukrainian folk songs to the band Archangel and ’O Sole Mio’ sung by serenading waiters in an Italian restaurant. Amil and Ramil Nasirov are best known as members of the hip-hop band Kurgan & Agregat and have been fundraising for the military and medical supplies since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are very engaging actors with the soulful look of silent-era comedians. They capture a vital sense of pathos and longing in brothers fully invested in family life.