Beau Travail

Name: Beau Travail
Genre: Drama
Released: March 31, 2000
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 91
Cast: Denis Lavant, Grégoire Colin, Michel Subor

2000

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	Your Score
7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

New Yorker Films | Release Date: March 31, 2000 | Not Rated

Starring: Denis Lavant, Grégoire Colin, Michel Subor

Summary: The soldiers of a small French Foreign Legion outpost spend their days practicing drills and exercising. Sergeant Galoup seems to be the perfect Legionnaire: a brooding, young loner who runs his troop efficiently until Sentain, a new recruit, arrives and threatens to upset the balance of his world.

Director: Claire Denis

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Peter Travers

Unique and unforgettable.

100

Peter Stack

Riveting. Read full review

100

Michael Wilmington

You may not like Beau Travail - which is, after all, a quintessential "critic's film" - but I think you'll have to admit it's been almost perfectly executed. Read full review

Charles Taylor

Claire Denis' baffling and exhilarating "Billy Budd" smolders with heat-blasted rhythms and supercharged acting. Read full review

Film.com Peter Brunette

A lovely piece of work.

Jami Bernard

"Chocolat" was just a warmup for the stunning display of the male form against National Geographic settings in her new Beau Travail.

Marta Barber

If only Beau Travail had a more dramatic edge, this nicely done film wouldn't have felt so long.

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User Reviews

JohnM

Feb 14, 2008

Beautiful. And that ending..... elusive, yet unforgettable. One of the best concluding sequences I've ever seen.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Yvan

Dec 9, 2009

A stunning, melancholy film. Easily one of the best of the decade.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

LowbrowCinema

Nov 27, 2013

Claire Denis consistently breaks the boundaries of conventional filmmaking without resorting to pretension. BEAU TRAVAIL may just be her masterpiece, though I have a true fondness for TROUBLE EVERY DAY.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BladeLover2049

Oct 30, 2018

The poetic side of a repressed squad of soldiers. Beatiful.A movie where the landscapes are so beautiful, the looks so exciting and peace is the story's storyteller.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

MaxA.

Dec 17, 2006

Brooding, plodding, self-conscious and silly. This is a caricature of a French art film. It goes nowhere for an hour and a half while the protagonist poses and smokes lots of cigarettes. In a word: merde.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JeffA

Jan 1, 2010

Ugh, another pretentious, boring "art" film. Truly lame. What is it with the french? I see so many of the worst films coming from there.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

OlivierPiel

Jun 22, 2020

91% score and I never felt more let down. When a director uses voice over for exposition it is a clear sign that he/she failed to articulate his/her ideas with images...which should be his job. Sadly, this is the case here and shows that a film adaptation of a book (Melville's Billy bud)91% score and I never felt more let down. When a director uses voice over for exposition it is a clear sign that he/she failed to articulate his/her ideas with images...which should be his job. Sadly, this is the case here and shows that a film adaptation of a book (Melville's Billy bud) will never be faithful and never be as interesting from a "psychological" experience.
This film is therefore a failure. And it is not anti-intellectualism and snobbery to rail against it. It is the opposite. People comment "it is beautiful""it is poetic" without further explanations. The highest form of vanity and stupidity, just to feel vindicated by others....
PS: And it gives a bad name to French cinema and culture, already plagued by arrogance and navel gazing.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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