Beau Travail

France | 1999 | Claire Denis

Here’s a new 4K restoration of the film now widely regarded as Claire Denis’ masterpiece. Inspired by Melville’s Billy Budd and set among French Foreign Legionnaires in Djibouti, East Africa, the movie focuses on a drill sergeant (Denis Lavant) obsessed with a sterling young recruit (Grégoire Colin) he’s trying to destroy. Balletic and sensual, fraught with repressed desire and ruinous jealousy, the movie exposes military and masculine codes of honor and the legacy of colonialism to the harsh light of the scorching desert sun. The title translates as “good work.” Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. 90 min.

Beau Travail, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 9/4 thru at least 9/24 via the link below. (Doing so supports the Cinematheque.) Screening fee is $12, and after opening the film, you have 72 hours to watch it. 

https://watch.eventive.org/beautravail/play/5f482108ef8670008de48eb5