Film: Beau Travail
Director: Claire Denis
Country: France
Released: September 1999
Runtime: 90 minutes
Genre: Indie Film
Studio: Soudaine Compagnie
Influenced: Barry Jenkins, Andrea Arnold, Céline Sciamma, Lucrecia Martel, Joanna Hogg
Loosely based on Herman Melville's unfinished novella Billy Budd, Claire Denis' Beau Travail transposes the Royal Navy setting of the original story to a French Foreign Legion outpost in the East African country of Djibouti. The phrase "beau travail" (great work) encapsulates the themes of dedication, discipline and the pursuit of excellence explored in the movie, but there's something ironic about the fim's title too, as Denis delves into the more fragile and complex aspects of masculinity. Throughout Beau Travail, there are undertones of repressed desires and unspoken emotions among the Legionnaires, as depicted in the film's incredible opening dance sequence in a nightclub, which combines sensual North African pop music with intimate footage of the soldiers and local women dancing at a disco. The scene is a prime example of how the characters momentarily break free from their disciplined personas to express themselves, hinting at their suppressed desires.
The film follows the life of Sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant), an experienced and disciplined officer stationed in the arid landscape of Djibouti. Scenes of Galoup with his men in East Africa are interspersed with footage of him at home in Marseille, reflecting on his life, and we hear Galoup's voiceover as a constant commentary throughout the film. Beau Travail relies on visual storytelling and minimal dialogue, allowing viewers to interpret and immerse themselves in the emotional undercurrents of the characters. Galoup is a strict and stoic leader who prides himself on maintaining control over his troops, but his world is disrupted when the young and charismatic Legionnaire Sentain (Grégoire Colin) arrives, drawing the admiration of the other soldiers. Galoup's jealousy and obsession with the newcomer Sentain suggest a struggle with his own sexuality, which is at odds with the hyper-masculine environment of the Legion.
Denis uses music in Beau Travail to powerful effect, including an early scene of the men exercising and praying to the sun in the desert, soundtracked by a classical piece from Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. The director also makes clever use of contemporary music, most notably Tarkan's Şımarık at the start of the film, Neil Young's Safeway Cart and Corona's 90s dance classic The Rhythm Of The Night. We also hear Galoup humming a tune and recounting the legion's core principles of honneur, fidélité, valeur et discipline over scenes of the men in intense training. Galoup was at ease with his men until Sentain turns up, but then something vague and menacing grips him. He becomes increasingly jealous of Sentain's popularity and begins to target him with excessive discipline. The tension between the two men reaches its breaking point during a military exercise in the harsh Djibouti desert, a tragic moment that is followed by an incredible shot of local men and camels walking over the salt plains and finding Sentain's body. As Michel Subor memorably says earlier in the film as commandant Bruno Forestier, his boys are only there for fornication and blood.
Beau Travail won several awards at film festivals, including the Golden Leopard at the 1999 Locarno Film Festival. Denis' direction and Agnès Godard's striking and poetic cinematography were widely praised. The film's visuals are a blend of realism and dreamlike sequences, often depicting the harsh African landscape and the Legionnaires' disciplined routines. In addition, Beau Travail's exploration of masculinity and the human psyche in a military context has garnered scholarly attention. Denis was inspired to make the film after watching Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit Soldat (1963), also starring Subor, and the director took creative liberties with Melville's source material to craft Beau Travail's narrative. The film is marked by a sense of isolation and desolation, mirroring the lives of the Legionnaires, and Denis intentionally leaves much of the narrative open to interpretation, encouraging viewers to delve into the characters' psychology and relationships and draw their own conclusions. The movie closes ambiguously with an incredible dance routine by Lavant and the director's innovative end credits.
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