Beau Travail

Beau Travail is Claire Denis's film about a troop of Legionnaires training in Djibouti. The film is apparently a retelling of Herman Melville's 'Billy Rudd'.

Denis Lavant stars as officer Galoup, who narrates his own downfall through a series of flashbacks. Michel Subor plays the watchful commander, Galoup's boss, while Gregoire Colin plays Sentain, the young Legionnaire who acts as the trigger for Galoup's downfall.

At the beginning Galoup seems in control of his 'flock' and protective of them. Through a series of scenes of Galoup doing his daily chores, his intensive cleaning of his uniform and ironing, we see that he is indebted to the Legionnaire lifestyle. It is this life which gives him purpose and structure in an existence which would otherwise be lacking.

When a young charge is introduced into his troop, Sentain, he feels oddly resentful towards him. Sentain is an enigmatic, sensitive young man who Galoup feels doesn't belong to the army. Sentain is quietly influential among the troops, and there is simmering tension when word gets out that Galoup is out to get him. However, the situation escalates when Sentain saves a fellow soldier in a helicopter crash, becoming a hero amongst the troops, and more gratingly for Galoup, gaining the respect of the commander. At this point Galoup waits eagerly for the moment to take Sentain apart.

But this plot description only tells half the film. To read this description, you might think this was simply a mere drama. Beau Travail has a distinctly odd atmosphere. The bright, vivid images of the Djibouti landscapes, the sandy deserts and the pools of water, are filmed in lingering takes taking on an elegiac, meditative quality. We are made to examine the images and the characters faces for clues, as Denis gives little away in the form of script. When we are told characters thoughts or feelings through dialogue, it is often strangely frank.

The performances from the three leads are all quite magnetic and intriguing. Thinking back to them, I realise that they all share distinctive faces; Lavant dinosaur and rubbled, Subor rugged and shrewd eyes, and Colin oval and angelic. When we watch them, we are looking for insights into their mindsets.

One of the most memorable aspects of this film are the striking scenes of the nightclub placed throughout the film. In these scenes, we see various soldiers from the troop dancing with swaying Djibouti girls, all facing disconcertingly towards the camera, like some kind of performance. In the first scene, we see the soldiers dancing happily with the the girls. By the final scene though, we see Galoup alone in the nightclub. In an exuberant dance, he exposes his unsettled and unsatisfied mind, his lonesome existence. It is extremely resonant.

8/10