Beau travail

Beau travail

Director: Claire Denis
Country: France

1999 | 93 min. | French
Subtitles: English, German
FSK | Nicht geprüft / No clearance (18+)

Cast_ Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin Screenplay_ Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau Camera_ Agnès Godard Producer_ Jérôme Minet, Patrick Grandperret Rights_ Mediawan

One of the greatest films of all time! In their masterpiece, Claire Denis and Agnès Godard transform the hard physical toil of the French Foreign Legion into a hypnotic dance.

Inexplicable rage grips the sergeant instructor Galoup when the recruit Sentain is transferred to his unit in the Gulf of Djibouti. Is it envy? Repressed desire? Claire Denis changes the maritime setting of Melville’s novella “Billy Budd” to an outpost of the Foreign Legion. Like Melville, she does not psychologize; she shows: the rocks, the sand, the sea and all their colors. But above all, she and her cinematographer Agnès Godard film the always half-naked bodies of the soldiers. The result is cinema that is immediate, erotic as well as complex.
In the BFI’s poll of the greatest films of all time, ›Beau travail‹ ranked seventh.

Director

Claire Denis grew up in West Africa and, starting with her debut, has frequently explored postcolonial discourses in visually groundbreaking works. In 2022, her two most recent films won prizes in Berlin and Cannes.

Trailer

Screenings

  • AvailableSunday 19.11.202320:45with GuestsMannheimMACineplex (Saal 3)
  • AvailableSunday 19.11.202317:30with GuestsHeidelbergHDKarlstorbahnhof