GOOD WORK
BEAU TRAVAIL



France, 1999, 90 min, color

Set in the sandblasted flats of Djibouti in East Africa, the film traces the lives of several inhabitants of a small desert outpost of the French Foreign Legion. Remembering these days with nostalgic reverie is Sgt. Galoup, a brooding loner "without ideals, working in an army without a future". Under the eye of superior officer Forrestier, Galoup drills his troops like a well-oiled machine, until the new recruit, Sentain, threatens to disrupt the camp's balance. Scorched by the desert's blazing heat and the legionnaires' intensified rivalry, tension mounts high…

"Herman Melville meets the French Foreign Legion in the middle of the African desert in Beau Travail, a striking retelling of "Billy Budd, Sailor" in a minimalist, strongly visual key. French director Claire Denis' Spartan storytelling style of few words and powerful images, as rigorous and unflinching as basic training, is winning great admiration in fest circles. While the leisurely, quasi-operatic unfolding of the tenuous plot may put off some viewers, others will be drawn by the sensuality of young male bodies choreographically displayed."