About this Event
Southend CineScene Presents
Beau Travail (1999)
Country: France
Director: Claire Denis
Running time: 93 minutes
Language: French, Italian and Russian, with English subtitles
Certificate: 15 (UK classification may vary by release)
Starring: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin
Format: Colour
Set amid the sun-scorched landscapes of Djibouti, Claire Denis’s Beau Travail follows Sergeant Galoup, a French Foreign Legionnaire whose ordered existence begins to unravel with the arrival of a charismatic young recruit, Gilles Sentain. As jealousy and repressed desire take hold, the regiment’s strict codes of discipline become the backdrop for a quietly devastating study of masculinity, obsession and belonging.
Drawing loosely on Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Denis crafts a hypnotic, sensuous film in which the physical rituals of military life become a kind of ballet. With striking cinematography by Agnès Godard and a powerful musical counterpoint from Benjamin Britten, Beau Travail builds towards one of contemporary cinema’s most unforgettable finales.
Event venue & nearby stays
Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom
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