The lives of two young men from different continents and very different experiences cross in highly unusual circumstances, with a call to arms being the connection. Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Berlinale winner Disco Boy is about to receive its US release.
Giacomo Abbruzzese’s first feature, Disco Boy, won the Silver Bear for outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 2023 Berlinale, and almost a year later, it is now about to receive its US release.
Aleksei (Franz Rogowski) is a young Belarusian who undertakes a dangerous and illegal journey across Europe in order to try to enlist in the French Foreign Legion. If successful, he will be entitled to claim a French passport and carve out a new life for himself. At the same time in the Niger Delta, Jomo (Morr Ndiaye) leads a group of armed guerrilla activists, protecting his village and surrounding area from the threat of encroaching oil companies. Both men are seeking a better life for themselves and those near to them; both have chosen paths which are dangerous, and both lives will be forever changed after their encounter.
Like the rivers which are ever-present in Disco Boy, Aleksei is constantly moving, focussed only on a way to reach his goal at any cost. Jomo lives and acts on the river next to his village, and it this which is being threatened by the oil companies. The audience will feel that the crossing of water contains an almost mythical aspect for both.
The storytelling is sparse and the editing (by Abbruzzese, Ariane Boukerche, and Fabrizio Federico) leaves out chunks of time where others might have chosen to let the audience see it passing. But the viewer soon understands that nothing which needs to be on screen has happened in the intervening time and that the narrative can continue with the missing bits being picked up as we go along. For this reason, the film moves relatively quickly and conveys a lot without saying much.
The two men at the centre of the narrative may have started from different places, but at the moment of their encounter, the connection between them is striking. Rogowski has significantly more screen time and a huge amount of acting (and dancing) experience, but first-time actor Morr Ndiaye as Jomo is extremely charismatic and holds his own in their few scenes together.
Also electric on screen is Laëtitia Ky, who plays Udoka, Jomo’s sister, and who we see later in Paris as a dancer. She has few lines, but her poise and movement is enthralling – viewers may recognise her performance in Philippe Lacôte’s 2021 Academy Award-nominated Ivorian film Night of Kings / La Nuit des Rois
The visual shift from the drab naturalism of Aleksei’s initial journey through to the more dreamlike or even hallucinatory images in the latter scenes, contrasts beautifully. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart has a wealth of experience from films such as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro, and both Beach Rats and Never Rarely Sometimes Always from Eliza Hittman which she brings to bear here.
Disco Boy is a film of contrasts and its shift in tone may confuse and/or beguile, but it is difficult not to appreciate the artistic intent of the creator.
Disco Boy will open at The Quad in New York City on 2nd February 2024 and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on 9th February, with a US national release to follow.
The lives of two young men from different continents and very different experiences cross in highly unusual circumstances, with a call to arms being the connection. Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Berlinale winner Disco Boy is about to receive its US release.
Giacomo Abbruzzese’s first feature, Disco Boy, won the Silver Bear for outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 2023 Berlinale, and almost a year later, it is now about to receive its US release.
Aleksei (Franz Rogowski) is a young Belarusian who undertakes a dangerous and illegal journey across Europe in order to try to enlist in the French Foreign Legion. If successful, he will be entitled to claim a French passport and carve out a new life for himself. At the same time in the Niger Delta, Jomo (Morr Ndiaye) leads a group of armed guerrilla activists, protecting his village and surrounding area from the threat of encroaching oil companies. Both men are seeking a better life for themselves and those near to them; both have chosen paths which are dangerous, and both lives will be forever changed after their encounter.
Like the rivers which are ever-present in Disco Boy, Aleksei is constantly moving, focussed only on a way to reach his goal at any cost. Jomo lives and acts on the river next to his village, and it this which is being threatened by the oil companies. The audience will feel that the crossing of water contains an almost mythical aspect for both.
The storytelling is sparse and the editing (by Abbruzzese, Ariane Boukerche, and Fabrizio Federico) leaves out chunks of time where others might have chosen to let the audience see it passing. But the viewer soon understands that nothing which needs to be on screen has happened in the intervening time and that the narrative can continue with the missing bits being picked up as we go along. For this reason, the film moves relatively quickly and conveys a lot without saying much.
The two men at the centre of the narrative may have started from different places, but at the moment of their encounter, the connection between them is striking. Rogowski has significantly more screen time and a huge amount of acting (and dancing) experience, but first-time actor Morr Ndiaye as Jomo is extremely charismatic and holds his own in their few scenes together.
Also electric on screen is Laëtitia Ky, who plays Udoka, Jomo’s sister, and who we see later in Paris as a dancer. She has few lines, but her poise and movement is enthralling – viewers may recognise her performance in Philippe Lacôte’s 2021 Academy Award-nominated Ivorian film Night of Kings / La Nuit des Rois
The visual shift from the drab naturalism of Aleksei’s initial journey through to the more dreamlike or even hallucinatory images in the latter scenes, contrasts beautifully. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart has a wealth of experience from films such as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro, and both Beach Rats and Never Rarely Sometimes Always from Eliza Hittman which she brings to bear here.
Disco Boy is a film of contrasts and its shift in tone may confuse and/or beguile, but it is difficult not to appreciate the artistic intent of the creator.
Disco Boy will open at The Quad in New York City on 2nd February 2024 and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on 9th February, with a US national release to follow.
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