Beau Travail

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Beau Travail ★★½ 1998

Very loose adaptation of Melville's “Billy Budd” is set in the French Foreign Legion at an outpost near Djibouti in Africa. Secondincommand Galoup (Lavant) tries to break popular new soldier Sentain (Colin) before he can become the Commandant's favorite. Visual style and attention to the male form take precedence over the story itself, which is mostly provided in Galoup's flashback narration. French with subtitles. 89m/ C VHS, DVD . FR Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Gregoire Colin; D: Claire Denis; W: Claire Denis, JeanPol Fargeau; C: Agnes Godard.