Beau Travail (Denis, 1999)

As a medium, film is full of rarely utilized potential. In this instance, I am talking about the possibility of cinema to overcome mere narration and wisp dreamily into the realm of meditation. Although it has been done, successfully, several times, there is a surprising dearth of these films being produced. Whether this results from a fear of underemphasis in terms of narration – the desire to tell a story being innate to humans – or a lack of imagination, I am not the one to say. Thankfully, Denis’ Beau Travail is a film that aims squarely for the right portion of your brain. Its success, however, is debatable.

By taking the central premise of Billy Budd and transliterating to the French Legion in Africa, Denis takes the shell of a story and, well, not much else. Her concern is a more rhythmic one. The camera follows impeccably fit men doing a host of undeniably masculine training exercises. It lingers for as long as it wants, solemnly suggesting but not proclaiming anything as a result of its inquiries. It quietly, for example, shows us the group of men performing a strange ritual of forced embrace; over and over again. Far from being soporific, Denis’ camera work is often refulgent and hypnotic.

Where Beau Travail doesn’t suffer from, say, hebetude, it does ask a bit too much from the viewer. The relationship between Galoup and Sentain becomes something of an over-simplification; Galoup is out to get Sentain, under unstable pretexts, and Sentain is more or less innocence personified. This does dull the edge of the films appeal a bit, although it was clear from the start that this wasn’t Denis’ primary concern. The homoerotic overtones add little, although perhaps hint at Galoup’s motive.