150 Word Review: 'Beau Travail' (1999)
The rhythm of the night
Men move in Beau Travail. Shirtless, muscular, sweaty, they move together, a brotherhood of flesh. French Director Claire Denis' masterpiece is as intimate and immediate as a daydream, a washline of pinned memories flittering in the wind.
L'histoire: a diverse platoon of outcast French Foreign Legion soldiers stationed in a remote Northern African outpost spend their days crawling under barbed wire, carrying each other when wounded, training for fights that never come, and their evenings dancing in nightclubs while wearing the uniforms of the colonizer.
These men are far from home, likely escaping dire circumstances by signing up for a tour of a distant occupied land. The one to watch is Denis Lavant's Galoup, the second-in-command. A portrait of toxic loneliness. His envy of his beloved superior officer is as intense as his hatred of a recruit. Lavant's burning desires transcend sexuality; he wants it all and none of it.