FILM: Beau Travail

Strongly coloured by her own childhood in colonial French Africa, Claire Denis’ masterpiece is a mesmerising exploration of the legacy of empire.

In a remote coastal outpost in the former French colony of Djibouti, Foreign Legion Commander Bruno Forestier (Michel Subor) is admired by his men. Less popular is his prickly, solitary second-in-command Sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant), who trains the troops rigorously in the blazing heat. The arrival of Sentain, a good-natured new recruit, awakens a burning rage in Galoup, who begins to plot the young man’s downfall.

Denis’ screenplay is loosely based on Herman Melville’s 1888 novella Billy Budd, which also inspired Benjamin Britten’s 1951 opera of the same name. In a film of few words, Beau Travail’s bold imagery, rhythms and soundtrack – featuring excerpts from Britten’s Budd and, unforgettably, Corona’s ‘Rhythm of the Night’ – convey the ways in which history, belonging, desire and violence trouble contemporary masculinity.

Introduced by Dr Mani Sharpe, Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Leeds.

A DARE screening in partnership with the University of Leeds.