Beau travail (1999)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Claire Denis

Writers:

Claire Denis (writer)
Jean-Pol Fargeau (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

3 May 2000 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This film focuses on an ex-Foreign Legion officer as he recalls his once glorious life, leading troops in Africa.

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Officer | Recruit | Africa | Commandant

Awards:

5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Denis Lavant	...	Galoup
Michel Subor	...	Commander Bruno Forestier
Grégoire Colin	...	Gilles Sentain
Richard Courcet	...	Legionnaire
Nicolas Duvauchelle	...	Legionnaire
Adiatou Massudi	...	Legionnaire
Mickael Ravovski	...	Legionnaire
Dan Herzberg	...	Legionnaire
Giuseppe Molino	...	Legionnaire
Gianfranco Poddighe	...	Legionnaire
Marc Veh	...	Legionnaire
Thong Duy Nguyen	...	Legionnaire
Jean-Yves Vivet	...	Legionnaire
Bernardo Montet	...	Legionnaire
Dimitri Tsiapkinis	...	Legionnaire
Djamel Zemali	...	Legionnaire
Abdelkader Bouti	...	Legionnaire
Loula Ali Lotta
Marta Tafesse Kassa	...	Young woman
Ali Mohammed Hamadou
Ahmed Houffeil Abdi
Aïcha Med Robleh
Sigue Samouel
Almaz Lissana
Kounana Mitike
Amina Iman
Yawadit Bahailou
Zinat Cheik Safi
Hiwat Ayalleh
Touriye Ballata
Hiwat Echete
Haba Kebede
Makdas Sahay
Amina Idriss
Sahait Alemanyeh
Yedit Bahalou
Kadija Mohamed
Mimi Alem
Mohamed Roukoya
Amina Salah
Imabet Tadesse
Ganat Mamo
Matha Wolde
Mona Lisa

Directed by
Claire Denis

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claire Denis		writer
Jean-Pol Fargeau		writer
Herman Melville		story "Billy Budd, Sailor"

Produced by
Patrick Grandperret	....	producer
Jérôme Minet	....	executive producer
Eric Zaouali	....	line producer

Original Music by
Charles Henri de Pierrefeu
Eran Zur		(as Eran Tzur)

Cinematography by
Agnès Godard

Film Editing by
Nelly Quettier

Casting by
Nicolas Lublin

Production Design by
Arnaud de Moleron

Costume Design by
Judy Shrewsbury

Makeup Department
Danièle Vuarin	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Salem Brahimi	....	unit production manager
Eric Zaouali	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean-Paul Allegre	....	assistant director
Nicolas Conti	....	trainee assistant director
Ali Mohammed Hamadou	....	assistant director: Djibouti
Murielle Iris	....	assistant director
Julien Louvret	....	trainee assistant director
Moussah Hassan Moussah	....	assistant director
Flore Rougier	....	assistant director

Art Department
Stéphane Taillasson	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Pascal Dedeye	....	foley artist
Dominique Gaborieau	....	sound mixer
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound
Yves-Marie Omnes	....	sound assistant
Nathalie Vidal	....	sound engineer
Jean-Christophe Winding	....	sound editor (as Christophe Winding)

Visual Effects by
Ronan Broudin	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Julien Bureau	....	assistant camera
Gérard Delayat	....	key grip
Patrick Grandperret	....	underwater camera operator
Olivier Regent	....	head electrician
Thérèse Somano	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Christine Keusch	....	costumer
Zara	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Emmanuelle Pencalet	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Tarkan	....	composer: song "Simarik"

Transportation Department
Moumin Daoud Ali	....	driver

Other crew
Niaz Ziad Ibrahim	....	production assistant: Djibouti
Bruno Mérieux	....	administrator: Marseille
Bernardo Montet	....	choreographer
Danielle Vaugon	....	production coordinator
Béatrice Zanetti	....	production administrator

Production Companies

• La Sept-Arte
• S.M. Films
• Tanaïs Productions

Distributors

• Artificial Eye
• New Yorker Films (2000) (USA) (subtitled)
• Pyramide Distribution (France)

Also Known As:

Good Work (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

Argentina:92 min | Australia:90 min | Italy:90 min | UK:93 min | USA:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Italian | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Djibouti

Company:

La Sept-Arte

Quotes:

Commander Bruno Forestier: If it weren't for fornication and blood, we wouldn't be here.

Movie Connections:

Version of "General Motors Presents: Billy Budd" (1955)

An effective study on what military life does to human expression.

Claire Denis' Beau travail, alongside Bruno Dumont's L'Humanité, is a French film I wouldn't suggest to those who get easily bored in a movie theater. But if one is willing to forget the conventions of narrative cinema and accept the sometimes documentarian, sometimes corporeally poetic way Beau travail approaches it's subject, this should be a true treat for both the eyes and the mind.

The story of the movie is thin as paper: Galoup, a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion, has to deal with his jealousy when a new recruit called Sentain becomes a hero in the eyes of his men. Alongside Galoup's soldiers, the only other important player in this bizarre drama is Forestier, Galoup's superior, who he obviously admires, but who doesn't share his resentment for Sentain. Gradually, Galoup's envy for Sentain becomes too much for him to take, and his downward spiral begins.

Denis depicts, with great sense for details, how the military routines dominate every aspect of the legionnaires' (and especially Galoup's) life. This is portrayed effectively in the beginning of the film, when the soldiers' crude attempts to dance in a disco are compared to their beautiful, elegant movements during physical training. To Galoup, military discipline has become the only form of self-expression, and for this reason he hates Sentain, who tries to bring a little more humanity to the camp. Or does he? A curious aspect of the film is that we never see any of the things Galoup, in his narrative, accuses Sentain of. Only in the end Sentain acts against Galoup's strict orders, and this could be seen as counterreaction to Galoup's obvious hatred and unreasonable forms of punishment; the humane deed Sentain commits is something any soldier who isn't thoroughly programmed would do. So, since the story is told from Galoup's point of view, it could be argued that he has become paranoid, that as soldier without a war or an enemy he is only looking for an object to his emotional output (which the military life has distorted into hatred and envy), and Sentain, because of his one act of heroism, happens to be an apt target.

The above, however, isn't the only way to interpret the story. It is quite possible that Sentain acts the way Galoup says he does, and this turns the movie into a triangle (or a rectangle) drama between Galoup, Sentain and his men, possibly even his superior. The only thing Galoup's seems to (or is able to) care about is the military, and disciplining the legionnaires is his way of showing his affection. But this balance is broken by Sentain, whom the men admire, and who's actions are approved by Forestier. Since Galoup fears he is about to lose the very substance of his life, he reacts the only way is familiar with: by tightening his rule. Galoup's behaviour is, of course, bound to have repercussions, but there is no other option he can possibly think of.

Besides the way military life takes control of the men, Denis' other obvious point is to show how absurd and pointless the army routines seem in the eyes of an outsider. During the film we see countless training numbers and war excercises and witness the soldiers dull everyday life, but never do we see them doing anything useful. At one time the legionnaires build a camp in the desert, but the only reason for this seems to be Galoup's desire to get some action to the bored men. Beau travail's antimilitaristic theme becomes even more obvious, when the legionnaires' life is shown in contrast of the Africans who neighbour them. These people shepherd their herd, weave mats, sell things, make food, and watch with astonishment as the soldiers dig a hole in the middle of nowhere. The personal drama in the film becomes even more tragic, when Denis shows just how meaningless is the system that produces these kind of human beings. In the terrific final scene of the film we see the whole scale of Galoup's desperation as it becomes obvious, that he could never be anything else than a sad, retired army officer with no chance of fitting into the civilian world.