Rent Beau Travail (1999)
3.6 of 5 from 162 ratings
1h 30min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Amid the azure waters and sunbaked desert landscapes of Djibouti, a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) sows the seeds of his own ruin as his obsession with a striking young recruit (Gregoire Colin) plays out to the thunderous, operatic strains of Benjamin Britten.
- Actors:
- Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Adiatou Massudi, Mickael Ravovski, Dan Herzberg, Giuseppe Molino, Gianfranco Poddighe, Marc Veh, Thong Duy Nguyen, Jean-Yves Vivet, Bernardo Montet, Dimitri Tsiapkinis, Djamel Zemali, Abdelkader Bouti, Loula Ali Lotta, Ali Mohammed Hamadou, Ahmed Houffeil Abdi
- Directors:
- Claire Denis
- Producers:
- Patrick Grandperret
- Writers:
- Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Herman Melville
- Aka:
- Good Work
- Studio:
- Artificial Eye Film Company Ltd.
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Drama, Lesbian & Gay
- Collections:
- A World of Difference: A History of Gay Cinema, Drama Films & TV, Female Filmmakers Who Changed French Cinema, Films by Genre, New waves of Latin American Cinema, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1999, What to watch by country
- Countries:
- France
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 28/09/2020
- Run Time:
- 93 minutes
- Languages:
- French LPCM Stereo
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.66:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New conversation between Denis and filmmaker Barry Jenkins
- New selected-scene commentary with Godard
- New interviews with actors Denis Lavant and Grcgoire Colin
- New video essay by film scholar Judith Mayne
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Reviews (3) of Beau Travail
Quintessential Cinematography: Writing in Movement - Beau Travail review by CP Customer
The film evokes France's colonial past (it is filmed in Djibouti) and it is a sum total of Claire Denis's thoughts on isolation, exile and post-colonialism. It questions received ideas about collective identity, be it national, colonial or patriarchal, questions that are worked through in the elite military force of the French foreign legion represented in the film. Beau Travail focuses on image rather than dialogue, but the music is never just a background: it helps compose a rich and sensual cinematic world. There is also the issue of political engagement in its referencing of one of its main sources: Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit soldat, 1960. The association of Beau Travail with Le Petit soldat is made clear through Michel Subor's presence as the commanding officer Forrestier, Thirty years before Beau Travail, Subor played a French deserter also called Forrestier in Godard's film which was an evocation of the effects of the Algerian war. Denis's stylised approach to the image should not be confused with a glorification of colonialism but rather an investigation of the myth of the legion: while she reveals its seductions, she simultaneously uncovers the systematic disavowal of identity as difference and the denial of its own obsolescence which are necessary for its continued existence.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
This film puts Claire Denis in the pantheon of all-time great French fim directors. - Beau Travail review by AER
This is one of my favourite French films. An early one by director Clare Denis (WHITE MISCHIEF / HIGH LIFE / 35 SHOTS OF RUM) this one stars Denis Levant (HOLY MOTORS / LES AMANTS DU PONT NEUF), GREGOIRE COLIN (35 SHOTS OF RUM / BASTARDS) and MICHEL SUBOR (WHITE MISCHIEF) as foreign legionnaires. A reimagining of Herman Melville's Billy Budd, this sees the Sgt get jealous of a newcomer with whom the commandant takes a shine to. So, jealous sgt begins to undermine the newcomers success. Set in Djibouti, this is a slow burner of stagger poise and beauty. It's also an allegory for ignoring what's on other people's plates when you're own dinner is getting cold. The wonderful scenes full of soldiers on exercise give this an otherworldly hypnotic feel, so when the sgt explodes into a crazy freestyle dance to Corona's Rhythm of the Night at the end, it's a brilliant scene of expression, instead of rage. This physical inarticulate man demonstrates his turmoil in the form of an erractic dance that's physically at odds with his regimented exercises and discipline. It's a stunning movie, and one that I've seen many times.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
The French Foreign Legion exposed - Beau Travail review by mc
A colourful but repetitive introspection of the Legion. The setting is mainly in French Djibouti with occasional soul searching visits to Marseilles , where the Colonel muses over his obsession about a young recruit. Every scene is of a troop of recruits exercising, each scene is repeated over and over. There is little progression in the action until the object of the Colonel's interest disappears into the desert and is found by locals barely alive. Thats it!
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.