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Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Artistic Contribution at the Berlin Film Festival 2023, disco boy played by Franz Rogowski. The actor is currently playing in Italian cinemas with Ira Sax’s Passages, which also stars Ben Whishaw and Adele Exarchopoulos. Disco Boy is written and directed by Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese, already nominated for a César Award for his short film America.
The film is an international co-production (Italy, France, Belgium, Poland) and the photograph is by Hélène Louvard, who received the prestigious award at the Berlinale 2023. Also at the same event, the film won the KINEO and GCHR awards. for Human Rights, in addition to a 2023 Silver Ribbon nomination for Best Debut. Instead, the extraordinary soundtrack is created by electronic music artist Vitalik, who recreates truly unique sounds in his approach to the film.
Disco Boy cast
Franz Rogowski is Aleksey, an immigrant from Belarus who enrolls in the foreign legion for the period necessary to obtain a passport for French citizenship. Gambian rookie actor Morr Ndiaye Jomo, head of the revolutionary armed core of the Niger Delta. While Ivorian actress, model and activist Letizia Key plays Udoka, Jomo’s sister and the one who activates with Alexei that transcendental connection that gives meaning to the film. The rest of the cast consists of Leon Luchev (Paul), Michael Baliki (Michael), Matteo Olivetti (Francis) and Robert Wienckiewicz (Gavril).
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Disco Boy: Plot and Review
Aleksei is an immigrant from Belarus who is running away from his past. Once in Paris, he enrolled in the Foreign Legion to obtain a French passport. In the Niger Delta, a young revolutionary, Jomo, leads a battalion of revolutionaries. They are fighting the oil companies that have devastated his village.
His sister Udoka dreams of escaping, knowing that now all is lost. Inevitably, their destinies will intertwine beyond any possibility, life or death. Traveling to Europe is difficult enough for Alexei, and the war represented in Disco Boy refers to the imperialist stance of a European country, in this case France.
What is happening now in Niger comes to mind when the political situation is highly compromised after the armed coup in Niamey that took place last July. This shows that very often fiction anticipates reality.
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Journey into the perception of human darkness
Infra-red rays in the scene of action, as well as the transmigration of souls that appear subtly. There is also a reference to the movie by Nicolas Winding Refn with a metaphorical neon triangle in the musical ending. Disco Boy is an interesting movie with a fairly simple plot that still needs some attention to get the hang of it. From illegal immigrants to the arrival of a foreign legion, but with sudden death due to the complexity of the enterprise.
Enrollment in the foreign legion goes to our Alexei, whose goal is to obtain French citizenship. A movement has been created in Niger against the exploitation of oil, which leads to the death of various fishermen and villages.
This is where criticism of external imperialism arises, and in this particular scenario, Alexei will be against this reality precisely for the rescue of the French hostages. The look and melancholy of the character constantly accompany him in the mind after this murder.
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The lack of dialogue is fundamental because it is expressed through images, but above all through the bodies of the main characters. In psychedelic form, they manage to express all the emotions and deep meaning of the film.
Cinematic influences of the film
What is the best life? Move to France and lose a friend to enlist in that ghostly foreign legion? Awareness occurs silently in catharsis in the final dance, which will demonstrate many things. The choice of Franz Rogowski as the main character is by no means accidental.
Seeing him in the film “Victoria”, the director Giacomo Abbruzzese realized that he was suitable for the main role. This is because Rogowski has expressive abilities that go beyond his voice and his body.
Even the genre of the film is difficult to classify. This heart of darkness is a strong nod to Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece Apocalypse Now and is a journey into the unconscious after the traumas of war. Aleksey’s flight from the country alternates with Jomo’s flight, which is an arms race in search of liberation.
From the escape, there is another path to go, which will determine the protagonist’s post-traumatic stress disorder. The influence comes from both Coppola’s The Predator film by John McTiernan and the cinema of Apitchapong Weerasethakul. In particular, from the latter we think of the elements of Tropical Malady and Uncle Boonme, who remembers past lives.
conclusions
Disco Boy is one of the most interesting cinematic experiences of the last film season, where the sensory aspect is especially appreciated. Fear becomes the need to run away, and this aspect is most evident in the film. The thought of a better future pushes Alexei, whose past is almost unknown, to flee.
Although these situations are shown in the film, the use of weapons shows that there is no freedom for both without war. A clash between the two warrior souls will be inevitable, and their interaction will be picked up in a special way by Abbruzzese himself. Separately, neo-colonialism and immigration are presented, where Aleksey and Udoka will meet and, in a sense, get to know each other at a disco.
Jomo wants to know not about escaping, but about staying to fight and make a difference, unlike his sister. In fact, he speaks while looking at the camera. We won’t be slaves. However, this aspect is deeply different in Udoka’s personality, who will only eventually find his sensory connection with Alexei. All this through a perfectly coordinated dance with a former legionnaire in the middle of a triangular disco neon.
Disco Boy is a film to be rediscovered and above all to be listened to. Because its sounds are no less captivating than its appearance. An incredible mix of emotions, combined with a journey into the soul of its main characters, makes the film directed by Abbruzzese incredibly modern and unique in its kind.
Trailer
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