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Beau Travail

World and International Narrative Cinema

Beau Travail is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis, loosely adapting Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd and set among French Foreign Legion soldiers training in Djibouti. The story follows an officer named Galoup whose obsessive resentment of a charismatic young recruit, Sentain, drives him to sabotage the recruit's career and unravels his own. Built around Denis's choreography-like visual style and the soldiers' physical training routines rather than conventional dialogue, the film has been widely praised for its treatment of desire, discipline and power, and it placed seventh in the 2022 Sight and Sound critics poll.

Facts
Classification
Original Language
French 1
Award
Chlotrudis Award for Best Cinematography 2
Award
César Award for Best Cinematography 2
Award
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography 2
Release Year
1999 1
Country
France 1
Connections

Created By

Claire Denis, Figures
Source Beau Travail - Wikipedia

In Medium

Film, Media Forms
Source Beau Travail - Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Beau Travail - Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, first sentence
    is a 1999 French arthouse psychological drama film directed by Claire Denis
  • Infobox, Country field
    France
  • Beau Travail, Description, original language
    Beau Travail is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis, loosely adapting Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd and set among French Foreign Legion soldiers training in Djibouti.
  • In Medium: Film, Article lead sentence
    Beau Travail (pronounced [bo tʁa.vaj], French for "good job" or "nice work") is a 1999 French arthouse psychological drama film directed by Claire Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jean-Pol Fargeau as an adaptation of the novella Billy Budd by Herman Melville.
  • Created By: Claire Denis, Article lead sentence
    Beau Travail (pronounced [bo tʁa.vaj], French for "good job" or "nice work") is a 1999 French arthouse psychological drama film directed by Claire Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jean-Pol Fargeau as an adaptation of the novella Billy Budd by Herman Melville.
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2. Beau Travail (Wikidata)
  • Wikidata P166: Chlotrudis Award for Best Cinematography
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Chlotrudis Award for Best Cinematography.
  • Wikidata P166: César Award for Best Cinematography
    Wikidata P166 (award received): César Award for Best Cinematography.
  • Wikidata P166: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography
    Wikidata P166 (award received): National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography.
View the Source
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