Disco Boy is a 2023 drama film written and directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese in his feature directorial debut and starring Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laetitia Ky, Leon Lučev, Matteo Olivetti, Robert Więckiewicz and Michał Balicki. The film depicts the intertwined stories of Aleksei (Rogowski), a member of the French Foreign Legion; and of Jomo (Ndiaye), a guerrilla fighter in a village in the Niger Delta. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 February 2023. Abbruzzese was also nominated for GWFF Best First Feature Award in the festival. The film was released in Italy on 9 March 2023, in France on 3 May 2023, in Belgium on 24 May 2023 and in Poland on 6 October 2023.
Contents
Cast
Franz Rogowski as Aleksei
Morr Ndiaye as Jomo
Laetitia Ky as Udoka
Leon Lučev as Paul
Matteo Olivetti as Francesco
Robert Więckiewicz as Gavril
Michał Balicki as Mikhail
Dimitri Pacalo as Stephane
Production
Development
Disco Boy is the feature film debut of Italian-born director and screenwriter Giacomo Abbruzzese. He developed the film during the Cinéfondation artist-in-residence program initiated by the Cannes Film Festival. Speaking to Cineuropa's Davide Abbatescianni, Abbruzzese revealed that Rogowski's character was born out of an encounter in a nightclub with a dancer who had been a soldier. "He explained this 'dichotomy' through his body: a dancer's body is the same as a soldier's body. Although seemingly opposed, they actually have many things in common: discipline, the choreography involved is almost pleasurable thanks to the extreme effort involved, you return home destroyed and exhausted", Abbruzzese added.
Casting
Franz Rogowski was cast in the role of Aleksey, and Morr Ndiaye from Gambia as Jomo. He was discovered through his participation in the documentary film Tumaranké (2018). Laetitia Ky, the Ivorian women's activist, influencer and model was cast as Udoka alongside Croatian Leon Lučev, Italian Matteo Olivetti, Polish Robert Więckiewicz and Belgian Mutamba Kalonji.
Filming
The film was shot from 13 September to 5 November 2021 in France (Paris and the island of Réunion) and Polish Subcarpathia.
Soundtrack
The movie soundtrack was made by disc jockey Vitalic, who was chosen by Abruzzese himself. Abruzzese wanted "not any kind of techno, but Vitalic's one, with opera and melacholics elements that guide you towards a trance state. The whole film is built as an ascension."
Release
Disco Boy had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on 19 February 2023, in competition. It was released theatrically in Italy on 9 March 2023 by Lucky Red, in France on 3 May 2023 by KMBO, in Belgium on 24 May 2023 by Anga Productions, and in Poland on 6 October 2023 by Nowe Horyzonty. In the United States, the film opened in New York City on 2 February 2024 and in Los Angeles on 9 February from Big World Pictures.
The film was screened at the 2024 Glasgow Film Festival.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Visually stylish and alluring in a dreamlike way, Disco Boy finds writer-director Giacomo Abbruzzese building on his obvious influences to tell a story that's distinctive in its own right." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Ben Croll of IndieWire graded the film B and wrote, "Getting in, getting down, and getting out as a style-hopping sizzle reel, Disco Boy heralds a promising new talent who totally has the moves." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film with 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Giacomo Abbruzzese makes a really stylish debut with Disco Boy, a visually thrilling, ambitious and distinctly freaky adventure into the heart of imperial darkness". Praising score and cinematography Bradshaw concluded, "The electronic score by Vitalic [...] throbs in its own incantatory trance and Hélène Louvart's cinematography is a thing of beauty. It's quite a trip."