Disco Boy

Giacomo Abbruzzese (dir)

It has been a long time since I have been so impressed by any film. I initially attended Disco Boy at the DCA because of Franz Rogowski playing a Belarussian ex-con Alexei, but I ended up leaving the cinema in admiration of Giacomo Abbruzzese’s talent. Within the first few minutes of the film’s opening, the viewer is spellbound by the magnetic and sinister silence hovering over the sleeping figures in the hut, and then an ominous humming in the background. We are drawn into the film’s hypnotic melody and delve into the depths of the jungle, where a woman pierces through the screen to us. Here, we also encounter one of our main protagonists, Jomo, a young militant of the Niger Delta fighting for the emancipation of his region devastated by the oil industry, which he asserts is his mission in an interview with an American journalist.

The film follows the story of two men whose lives become intertwined after a fateful encounter. Franz Rogowski’s Aleksei, a Belarusian, journeys to France with the promise of residence and citizenship upon completing the required training in the French Foreign Legion. Meanwhile, in the Niger Delta region, Jomo, a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta plans the abduction of a group of French nationals to halt the advance of unethical oil corporations. A squad of legionnaires is dispatched to resolve the conflict thus bringing the two protagonists face to face.

The cinematography by Hélène Louvar elevates the storytelling of the film to another level, rendering words unnecessary as the images are so powerful and evocative that they displace anything outside, leaving a deliberately uncomfortable silence. But what immediately drew my attention is the music in the film, composed by Pascal Arbez-Nicholas, better known by his stage name ‘Vitalic’. If I said that Louvar’s cinematography is immaculate in its wordlessness, then Pascal Arbez-Nicholas’s techno music amplifies the visual experience, beckoning the viewer into a frantic dance. The music intensifies the atmosphere building anticipation for the climax; however, just when we expect it to peak, the director cuts to the next shot thus maintaining the suspense through the film. Finally, at the end, we experience euphoria in the dance of Manuela and Alexei.

One of the most powerful scenes in the film is when Alexei encounters Jomo during a military mission. It possesses an extraordinary visuality. We witness their confrontation through the night vision, a device soldiers use to see in the dark, where thermal photography is utilized to capture their intense struggle in the pitch-dark environment.

Giacomo also reminds the world about the ecocide in Niger Delta in the scene where Jomo addresses the camera, discussing the devastating consequences caused by oil corporations in their relentless exploitation of the region’s natural resources.

Despite my love for cinema, I often distract myself, frequently checking my phone during the screenings. However, with Giacomo Abbruzzese’s film Disco Boy, I found myself fully immersed in the jungles of Niger Delta, completely forgetting about my buzzing phone tucked away in my bag. Giacomo’s debut film comes across as a bold statement from a promising director whose subsequent films I will anticipate with great enthusiasm. The film is crafted in a distinct manner, reminding me that cinema can deviate from traditional modes of storytelling.

Adila Muradova