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At the end credits, when Denis Lavant is dancing to Rhythm of the Night, is where I believe I was mesmerized the most. He is a such a completely humane character, and that scene is the crowning of that humanity.
I found it similar to my time in the US Marines. I even was deployed to Djibouti for almost a year. The Miltary is a strange complex hyper-masculine world that can be lonely and routine.
beau travail is one of my favorite films ever and one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion! and u couldn't have explained it any better! keep it up!
Great video essay! I just watched this the other day and can't get it off my mind. At the end, when he is stripped of all his jealousy, obsession, and regimentation, he's moving like his soul is completely free. I'm not sure if that scene was choreographed or not, but the fact that it looks like it's not structured at all is what makes it so profound.
It was not choreographed, claire Denis instructed lava by to dance as if he was moving between life and death and the scene was shot in two takes completely improvised.
amazing movie.what a great video essay. thank you. waatching this movie i couldnt help to notice, the coded visual language in it and how a similar visual language is used in titane. specifically in regards to the firefighters. and the relationship between the main character and the fire fighter captain
Beau travail, one of my favorite films from the 90s is actually more in line with the opera based on billy budd rather that melville's original text. The movie's greatness is evidenced by the sense that its earned its place alongside the unfinished manuscript, and the opera in sharpening our sense of what transpires in its narrative and mpre importantly what is at stake for its 3 principle characters
Late one night I caught the tail end of this movie and spent ages searching and finding it. I NEVER got what the theme was, or meaning of ANY of it by watching it. It was JUST a cinematic beauty. IF it follows Billy Budd then ok, sure, I KINDA see that. But not really. It is too far removed, there is too little dialogue and it is too vague to make anyone see the parallels. That said, I LOVED it. Bought it when I could find a copy and to this day only watch it in bits and pieces like eating chocolates. It is too rich otherwise.
@@TheCinemathequefilms it would be hard for me to balance the excellent quality of your post and my inexperienced understanding of film so I chose to 'shoot from the hip'' and say what I know sounds pedestrian and naive. You have added to my awareness in your descriptions and insights. Thank you. I think it is an experience and it stands alone without Melville.
Everyone is surpressed in one way or another, but even here, among Legionaires, toughies, jealousy and revenge can break free, as Claire Denise shows us ecentrically and beautifully. I'm in awe of her and this movie.
Watched Beau Travail for the first time yesterday and it's been on my mind since. This essay is fantastic! I am interested in doing something like this myself for other films, how do you get around the copyright issues, or is it because the video is deemed educational it's allowed under fair use? Subbed 👍 I look forward to watching some more of your content
Thanks for the kind words! And yes, I do get automatic copyright claims on most of my essays, but I appeal them under educational fair use, and they often lift the claims.
Great essay! The only objection I have is your description of the female vs male gaze, which is a problematic term in itself as it is heternormative, i.e. it assumes that the gaze in question is heterosexual and automatically links preconceived notions of sex and/or gender with sexuality whereas all three of course are different things. A man can have a male gaze and look at other men and vice versa. This is something that should be taken more into consideration I find.
Beautifully photographed tedium. One beautiful scene after another but a vapid, pretentious bore of suppressed homoeroticism with the director at loss on how to bring closure doubling down with a Johnny Travolta disco moment. A good looking but numbingly ostentatious dud. Worth fast forwarding for some outstanding camera work by Agnes Godard.
Personally I am so fed up with westerners' obsession with deconstruncting almost everything. This film is good and void of the gay propaganda ,that we have grown so used to. A gem of a movie.
So I guess I'm in the minority here. I've only seen two of Clair Denis' films but I'm not a fan. beau Travail and Intruder. They're just long and boring snoozefest for me. Ohhh look at this pretty cinematography followed by one important plot point followed by more B-roll footage.
I’ve only seen Beau Travail but it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s strengths for me (the meditative and hypnotic audio and visual experience) can definitely be a weakness for some because of paper-thin plot. Totally understand.
I had to stop watching and listening. Being a gay man I watch a lot of independent films on masculine love and friendship. ' Beau Travail ' is a fine work. I have no problem with watching it, but prefer to watch an independent LGBT film.
