CinemaSerf

If you're expecting some Bee Gees or Donna Summer here, then you're going to be disappointed. Indeed there's precious little disco at all in this story of "Alex" (Franz Rogowski). He and his friend "Mikhail" (Michal Balicki) have a cunning plan to get from their home in Belarus to Poland and then on to France where they may eventually gain citizenship by joining the Foreign Legion. That doesn't quite go to plan, but eventually he finds himself at boot camp and destined for a mission to Niger. It's there that the local "MEND" militia are demanding an end to the cavalier exploitation of the delta by oil companies leaving a trail of death, destruction and pollution behind them. A violent encounter with local leader "Jomo" (Morr Ndiaye) in a river ends up having quite a profound effect on our soldier, one which he must come to terms with when he returns to Paris and meets the enigmatic dancer "Udoka" (Laetitia Ky) - who would appear to be as connected with his recent past as with his present. The story itself is but an incomplete section of his life, it's the photography that makes this more interesting. The use of night-vision imagery, especially in the jungle, works well as does the presentation of the environmental carnage being left behind - oil leaking everywhere, discarded or bombed out pipelines. That sense of the invasive nature of industrial development is quite cleverly carried onwards as "Alex" and his colleagues themselves have little investment in anything but survival. There's not a great deal of dialogue - wanted or needed, and this is the sort of part Rogowski does well - he's neither here nor not a lot of the time. It has a slightly surreal look to it, and though maybe it does meander a little - it certainly does repeat itself now and again - it's still quite a compelling mix of the political and the emotional, and is worth a watch.