Cinemagic revives Claire Denis' Beau Travail this month
The 1999 adaptation of Melville's novel will screen at the Portland theater on November 8 and 12.
By Ivan Mori ·
Portland audiences can watch the 1999 French film Beau Travail at Cinemagic this month. The screenings are scheduled for November 8 and 12. The movie serves as a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's Billy Budd. Director Claire Denis crafted the film as a fragmented narrative set in Djibouti.
Denis Lavant plays Chief Galoup of the French Foreign Legion. He becomes fixated on a new recruit named Sentain, who is played by Grégoire Colin. Galoup narrates the story from inside his own head. He insists that Sentain will cause unrest within the platoon.
The on-screen reality differs from Galoup's internal monologue. Sentain performs the same daily tasks as the other soldiers. The men conduct drills and cook their own meals. They also practice tai chi. The Legion code of conduct manual apparently requires the men to wear shorts described as "Le Slutty Little Shorts."
The unit operates on a cycle of barely repressed homoeroticism. This dynamic passes down from the commandant, Michel Sabor, to Chief Galoup, and finally to Sentain. This psychological game functions as the unit's primary purpose. There is little actual military action occurring in 1990s Djibouti.
Denis uses the setting to examine colonialism and masculinity. She focuses on the drudgery of the soldiers' daily routine. Their war-game drills resemble homage rather than serious preparation. The men spend far more time ironing their uniforms than they do handling weapons.
The film portrays the soldiers as overgrown boys playing dress-up in a foreign country. They are steeped in violence but have little to do. They wait to see which insecurities turn into threats. Cinemagic will show the film on November 8 and 12.
