At close to three hours, Lubo will test the concentration of any seasoned movie goer. While some dramatisations could have been cut, they still remain ever appealing to watch.
In the winter of 1939 in Switzerland, Lubo, who makes a humble living as a nomadic street performer, is called up to join the Swiss army to defend the border with Austria from a potential German invasion. Forced to abandon his family, he soon discovers that his wife tragically died while trying to stop the authorities from taking their three young children away.
Targeted because they are Yenish, a minority nomadic community, Lubo’s family falls victim to a national campaign for the ‘re-education’ of street children (Hilfswerk für die Kinder der Landstrasse). Lubo knows that he will never have peace until he reunites with his children and gets justice for himself and his people – for which he is ready to go to extraordinary lengths.
Lubo’s quest meanders sometimes confusingly alongside several new female companions, one with whom he fathers a child. What is refreshingly different, is that we see a journey from a father’s perspective, not often seen on film.
Loosely inspired by the novel Il Seminatore by Mario Cavatore, this sweeping drama from Giorgio Diritti follows a man’s decades-long epic quest for freedom, justice, love and self-determination, that encourages us to rethink the blurred boundaries between good and evil.
Lubo will have its Australian premiere at the 2024 German Film Festival at Palace Cinemas. Check your local guides for screening times.
About Lubo
Length: 181 min
Language: Swiss German, Italian and Yenish with English subtitles
Directed by Giorgio Diritti
Stars Franz Rogowski, Valentina Bellè, Christophe Sermet, Joel Basman, Noèmi Besedes, Filippo Giulini
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