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Beau Travail [DVD] [1999] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
 
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Beau Travail [DVD] [1999] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

DVD ~ Denis Lavant
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Region 1 encoding (requires a North American or multi-region DVD player and NTSC compatible TV. More about DVD formats.)

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Product details

  • Actors: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet, Nicolas Duvauchelle
  • Directors: Claire Denis
  • Format: Colour, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
  • Language French, Italian, Russian
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
  • Studio: New Yorker Video
  • DVD Release Date: 8 Oct 2002
  • Run Time: 90 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00006JDTD
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 129,624 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the very finest French films released in 2000, Claire Denis' resetting of Billy Budd among modern-day French Foreign Legionnaires welds near-experimental formal minimalism with a savage exposure of male aggression, jealousy and repressed homosexual desire, all set in an eye-peeling desert setting and choreographed to the grunts of men at work. Ravaged-featured Denis Lavant plays Galoup, who narrates his story in flashback, perhaps at the moment before his life ends. A sergeant in charge of a troop of Legionnaires, Galoup's position as the favourite of the Commander (Michel Subor) is threatened by the arrival of pretty-boy Sentain (Grégoire Colin, who played the spoiled wastrel in The Dream Life of Angels). Galloup plots to discredit his rival. As the drama unfolds through indirection and Galloup's unreliable disclosures, Denis dwells lovingly on the ballet of men at work as the soldiers run through their obstacle courses, practice combat pas de deux and disport like lean, khaki-clad dolphins by the Mediterranean shore. Sort of like Full Metal Jacket meets early Derek Jarman. It's a sensuous and exquisite film, as perceptive about relationships between men as it is about those between colonisers and the colonised. --Leslie Felperin

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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 (3)
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3 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Both warm and chilling, 31 Dec 2005
This review is from: Beau Travail [1998] [DVD] (DVD)
The stark and expansive scenery is the perfect backdrop for the rawness of human character that we are exposed to. Beau Travail was a wonderful film for me in its understatement and simplicity. It was interesting to use masculinity as both the hero and villain of the story. Don’t miss out on it, and don’t be put off by the prospect of French – the film’s comment is nationality-less, gender-less, and timeless. In Denis Lavant’s ravaged features there is more than what is supposed to be a superficial ugliness. He surpasses himself by conveying an immense ugliness of character. It is interesting that he doesn’t get a tangible come-upance, but you will only be unsatisfied if you count ‘come-upances’ as falling off the edge of a cliff or getting hit by a bus. His actions have a much deeper torture, which he conveys both impressively and quietly.
The highlight however – sans doute – is the final scene: An imaginative and insightful suggestion of what a life of structure and self-control could do to you when you are free of it.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing but Slow, 3 Mar 2004
By Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
Beau Travail is a modern-day update of Billy Budd, although the plot is much changed and the characters more ambiguous. Directed by French director Claire Denis (best known for 1988's "Chocolat"), Beau Travail stars Denis Lavant as a Foreign Legion officer in Africa. Lavant is the perfect officer, but he finds himself largely ignored by his commandant (Michel Subor), whom he greatly admires. His jealousy is piqued when he sees his commandant drawn to a new recruit, Sentain (played by Grégoire Colin).

The movie has some simple and beautiful scenery of barren Africa; accordingly it won several awards for its cinematography, including a Cesar (the equivalent of the French Oscar). The tone of the film is mesmerizingly aloof, with little dialogue and character development (most are nameless and credited simply as "legionnaire"). However, the movie is glacier paced, relying on repeated imagery and stark narration. There are also far too many scenes in which the camera lingers on the legionnaires training or ironing their clothes. Despite the languid pace, the movie is rarely boring, as it manages to maintain a sense of intrigue. In addition, the ending is amusingly peculiar and bewildering.

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14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Elegant but Insubstantial, 11 Nov 2003
By Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Beau Travail [1998] [DVD] (DVD)
Introspective and subtle, Claire Denis' BEAU TRAVAIL offers a modern retelling of Herman Melville's BILLY BUDD, transposing the tale of an officer who self-destructs through his jealousy of a new recruit to an outpost of the French Foreign Legion. And although the film is elegant in both its simplicity and purity, I myself found it a shade too simple and pure to be completely effective.

Still, BEAU TRAVAIL has two things going for it: director Denis' cinematic eye and superior performances throughout. One truly senses the location in all its elemental nature, and the cinematography is remarkable for its restrained elegance. The cast follows suit, with direct and underplayed performances that fold seamlessly into both Denis' atmosphere and the story itself, and the result is often quite stylish.

But for all its elegance and style, I found BEAU TRAVAIL too introspective and subtle for its own good; to me it lacks any significant substance, with both story and characters slipping through my attention as easily as sand slips through my hand. While this is doubtlessly part of director Denis' intent, and while I have admired many a film with a notably elusive touch, my ultimate reaction to BEAU TRAVAIL is that it is a rather superficial exercise in style over substance, and I cannot say that it leads me to interest in the director's other work.

The DVD transfer is reasonable, if not entirely first rate, and there are few bonuses of any kind. In passing, I also note that BEAU TRAVAIL is often marketed as a film with homoerotic context and imagery, but I personally did not find it so. Final word: worth a look, but not greatly memorable for all that.

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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Haunting Film
Wonderful film - based on Melville's Billy Budd as a story. Set in the desert with the French Foreign Legion - the story is real Billy Budd - commanding officer and junior and... Read more
Published on 8 May 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars A very well thought out and beautiful movie, a must see!
...Beautifully directed and very well acted. Clare Denis does it again, but this time, better! If you enjoy good scenery in a movie then you have to see this one just for that... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2000

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