Claire Denis’ Beau Travail (1999) is a perplexing film. I was almost certain that I hated it until its final shot, which seems to come from out of nowhere and possibly changes the entire meaning of the film. Up until this point the movie consists basically of sequences surveying members of the French Foreign Legion as they do laundry and calisthenics at their remote African post. Oddly enough these sequences are set to sweeping non-diagetic opera music. Both these shots and the actions they display are meticulous. They are intercut with wide landscapes, many of which are beautiful, but that often have no narrative purpose. This is a story told with images, but not every image is integral. Quentin Tarantino was highly praised for a similar tactic applied to the dialogue of his Pulp Fiction (1994). I make such a connection for the purpose of juxtaposition. While Tarantino’s film is an audience and critical favorite, Beau Travail is largely unseen by American audiences. Is it on par with Pulp Fiction? No. But it is one of the better films that I’ve seen to be adapted from a work by Herman Melville (Billy Budd, Sailor). It is a tedious film, based on the work of a tedious writer, and its low on the watchabilityn scale.* However there was something about that final shot, which caused considerable debate about the film’s homosexual undertones upon its release, that just made me smile and laugh.Language: French
Runtime: 92 Minutes
Available @Youtube.com (hidden well)
Grade: 1.5 Hats Off
*Even for the diehard Terrence Malick fan this one might seem slow.
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