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Beau Travail Movie Review

Beau Travail is a 1999 French drama film directed by Claire Denis and starring Denis Lavant. It is a thinly plotted, but sensual movie.

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“Serve the good cause and die“

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This film focuses on an ex-Foreign Legion officer as he recalls his once-glorious life, leading troops in Djibouti. The plot in this movie is barely existent. There are themes that it explores, in particularly focusing on repressed sexuality with a strong emphasis on homoeroticism. We also see the life of soldiers depicted and how harsh their training can be. And you can perhaps find an anti-colonial message as it depicts these men like aliens who don’t belong in this place.

However, these themes are only slightly explored in a film that is very much an audio-visual experience with no proper plot to be found anywhere. Even the characterization suffered as a result of that visual approach. Chef Galoup is a memorable protagonist, but hardly a likable one. We never get to properly know him, though the performance from Denis Lavant is undeniably strong.

None of the soldiers got any meaningful arc or development with only Sentain having a solid story and a rift with Galoup that is the crux of the third act. I wished for better development of these characters, though the depiction of these men pretty much being these boys who are forced into this brutal, unforgiving lifestyle produced a couple of tragic sequences.

I usually don’t gravitate toward films such as Beau Travail. I prefer movies with a strong plot and a plethora of ideas, not to mention dialogue, which here is extremely sparse, though the narration is undoubtedly interesting. But in this instance, I was a patient viewer and I was mostly rewarded in the process.

The cinematography from Agnes Godard is so incredible and some of the imagery is instantly iconic. The soldiers doing workouts was shot in a way that they seemed to be dancing in sync. Couple that with the arid, harsh landscapes of Djibouti and so many detailed slice-of-life scenes and you’ve got a film that makes you acquainted with this job and lifestyle while pulling you in its atmosphere and never letting go.

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The score is also brilliantly eclectic, ranging from classical music to modern dance music to the more colorful African songs. The directing from Denis is confident and stylish while the editing is also top-notch. It’s a technical masterpiece that is both cinematic and in its own way riveting to watch with an atmosphere that is undeniably strong. I just wish that it had an accompanying plot as well.