Beau Travail

Starring: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Gregoire Colin, Richard Courcet, Nicolas Douvauchelle, Dan Herzberg
Directed by: Claire Denis
Rating: Unrated
Genre: Drama
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Members of the French Foreign Legion train in Djibouti.

Review:

Tim: I sat down to watch Beau Travail because it was listed as the 7th Greatest Movie of All Time on Sight and Sound's 2022 list. And all I can is, I don't quite understand. Sure, Claire Denis' film is good, I'll give it that. But it's not really good. Not great, not anywhere close to being the best of anything. I appreciate some things about their list, but I can't see how this movie is considered great.

Denis does craft an artsy tapestry of a movie- a film that is more focused on images and feelings than on any compelling narrative structure. Sure, there's a narrative here, but it feels tertiary (not even secondary) to Denis' other objectives. The movie's dialogue is sparse. You have to shift through the scenes, following the story and putting the pieces together. This doesn't take a ton of effort- Denis wants you to know the story, even if the way she goes about telling it is subtle and unexpected. This creates an odd sensation while watching the movie. It's actually less watching and more letting the scenes and the images wash over you. There's no urgency in the film. It's somewhat soothing, to watch a film so unconcerned with narrative momentum. It's also dull at times. It sacrifices emotional connection for artistry. I was impressed with how Denis crafted this film, her intentional abandonment of "movie" best practices. However, I also never really cared about any of the characters. That's where the film falls down.

With minimal dialogue, except for one of the most unlikable characters narrating, it's hard to really identify with these characters. We get familiar with them as the film progresses, but I never felt any emotional connection with them. There's the mean officer who is threatened by a younger recruit. There's a good deal of male toxicity thrown in. Some things happen, tensions boil beneath the surface. They don't so much erupt as spill over in a climax that feels anticlimactic. I don't know, I wasn't invested in these characters. The movie gives us the bare minimum, so we're watching the film through a prism of our own stories, the ways we are reading the images on screen. That was likely intentional, but my reading of the images was a less-than-compelling story.

Now, I do want to be clear- Beau Travail is never a bad movie, it's always a good one. The film is truly beautiful at times, and Denis lingers on scenes and moments that most films would rush past. It's an audacious approach to moviemaking. I didn't love it, but I recognized the artistry of this somber, reflective film. Denis seems to know intuitively that the audience's patience would wear thin, so the film clocks in at a quick 92 minutes. That was absolutely the right call. I know some people will call this a film that "they think about long after the credits roll". That wasn't the case with me. I was never outright bored during the film, but I was ready for it to be over. When the movie ended, I felt glad. Maybe a little thoughtful of Denis' interesting approach, but there's not as much depth to the film as its fans would have you believe. This isn't the kind of film you need to spend much time contemplating afterwards.

Denis Lavant does a good job as the unlikable officer. His performance is stripped down, raw. He seems like a good actor and gives a physical, impressive performance. I enjoyed watching him make us not like him. Gregorie Colin was solid as Sentain. I feel like the movie didn't give him enough chances to impress. The camera certainly lingers on him, but his stripped down performance didn't allow for enough time or content to make a connection with the audience. We learn a bit about his past, but it's not enough to really make us invested in his story. Colin is effective in the role, but I wish he was able to engage more in the role. His limited ability to do anything but be there hurts the overall performance some.

I liked Beau Travail and I know this review seems harsher than it should, simply because Sight and Sound vastly over-ranked the film. That's not this movie's fault. It's a perfectly good, interesting art film that doesn't quite live up to its potential. I think praising it any more than that starts to feel pretentious. This is a good movie, but it has more than a few flaws. It's not as special as it might have been.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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