Be2Can / Films / Disco Boy
Disco Boy
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Berlinale
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
2023
Following a difficult journey across Europe, Aleksei reaches Paris to enlist in the French Foreign Legion - a highly selective military corp that allows any foreigner, even undocumented, to be granted a French passport. In the Niger Delta, Jomo fights against oil companies that threaten the survival of his village. Meanwhile, his sister Udoka dreams of escaping, knowing that all is already lost there. Beyond borders, life and death, their destinies will intertwine.
Aleksei is a young Belarusian on the run from a past he must bury. Entering into a kind of Faustian pact, he becomes a member of the French Foreign Legion in exchange for the promise of French citizenship. Far away in the Niger Delta, Jomo is a revolutionary activist engaged in an armed struggle to defend his community. Aleksei is a soldier, Jomo a guerrilla fighter. As a result of one more senseless war, their destinies will intertwine. What is “otherness” and how do you absorb it into who you are as you go through life, cross borders and find yourself inhabiting an ever-changing physical and mental space? Giacomo Abbruzzese exhibits a remarkable sense of out-of-the-box thinking and inventiveness as he explores such questions in a visually striking work that is ripe with poetry and tension. Bodies fall into trances that are both revelatory and altruistic because they represent an opportunity to commune with others. Accompanying this magical reverie is a powerful score from electronic musician Vitalic that helps turn the night club into a place of transcendence. The disco becomes the ultimate destination for those who keep their sights firmly set on the sacred horizon of utopia.
Directed by
Giacomo Abbruzzese
Written by
Giacomo Abbruzzese
Edited by
Giacomo Abbruzzese, Ariane Boukerche, Fabrizio Federico
Cinematography
Hélène Louvart
Sound by
Guilhem Donzel
Music by
Vitalic
Starring
Franz Rogowski, Laetitia Ky, Robert Wieckiewicz, Michal Balicki, Ash Goldeh, Leon Lucev, Matteo Olivetti
Original title
Disco Boy
English title
Disco Boy
Year
2023
Country
France, Belgium, Poland, Italy
Language
FR, EN, PL, IGBO
Subtitles
CZ
Running time
93 min
Genre
Drama, War
Age rating
15+
Release date
9. 11. 2023
CS/SK Distributor
Film Europe

Jury award

Formálne inovatívny celovečerný debut Disco Boy nás zaujal svojou výraznou obrazovou aj zvukovou štylistikou, v ktorej ťaží zo vzájomných kontrastov obrazu aj zvuku, ako aj z manipulácie filmového času a priestoru. 

 

Vonkajšie konflikty hlavného hrdinu Alexeja sú v tomto filme upozadené na úkor tých vnútorných, ktoré diváka vťahujú prostredníctvom gradujúceho sound-designu a postupne spolu s hlavnou postavou pocitovo upadá do tranzu.

 

Oceňujeme inovatívny prístup k témam identity, migrácie a kolonializmu prostredníctvom vyprázdnenej narácie podporenej výrazným formalizmom, v ktorom sa z realistického zobrazovania postupne stáva abstraktné magické snenie.

 

Valér Futej, student střihové skladby na FAMU.

 

Trailer

Media reception

The Hollywood Reporter
„A sensuous, striking film experience."
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IndieWire
"Heralds a promising new talent who totally has the moves."
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