Teddy Larkin

Intro to Film
Jeff Heinzl
Interpretation Paper 1
9/23/14
The Abstract Nature of Beau Travail
Beau travail contains several underlying themes and character motifs that the
author, Claire Denis, surrenders to the discretion of the audience. While the majority of
first time viewers may not consider Beau Travail to contain any sexual content, there are
many deep erotic layers to the film that go much further than a physical expression of
desire. Denis portrays eroticism in a completely different light than 21st century
Hollywood pictures. This French film does not contain a single physical sex scene but
reveals that intense expressions of desire and tension do not require such lustful
depictions. Some of the widely interpretable and most interesting erotic situations include
the portrayal of the legionnaire's, the tension between Galoup & Sentain, Galoup's deep
internal conflict, and an interpretation of the final scene of the movie.

Beau Travail surveys the daily lives of an international French legion in a barren
Djibouti landscape under the blistering sun. The lifestyle of the men in the legion is a
balance between chaos and order. They go out to clubs at night to drink, dance and hit on
women. The film even begins with the legionnaires dancing and drinking with some local
Djibouti women at a club. Yet during the day, led by Sargent Galoup, the men devote
themselves to meaningless drills and tasks to prepare for combat with an imaginary

enemy. Sargent Galoup was a lifetime legionnaire with a weathered appearance and an
intense addiction to military structure. He is shown as facially scarred, not particularly
attractive, and older which makes him stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the
men. Galoup believed that he was a perfect legionnaire as he was stoic, solemn,
dedicated and looked after his soldiers like a "watch dog". He seemed to apply himself to
this life of order and for the recognition of his superior, Commander Bruno Forestier,
whom he idolized, and whose respect and attention he yearned for.

Denis portrays ample amounts of male eroticism through the young legionaries as
the soldiers physiques are almost equated to that of Greek gods. The muscular, young
and attractive legionaries wore short shorts and were almost always shirtless. This style
seems similar to the way Hollywood films tend to shoot attractive women, always
displaying their best sides and focusing long shots on the purely physical status of
women. Denis goes even further to show the legionaries ironing their clothing, always
acting politely and performing traditionally female household tasks. The beautiful men
are also depicted to share femininely platonic and caring friendships. This homoeroticism
is also seen through their strenuous drills and training regiments. They stretch and
perform exercises similar to Tai Chi in unison, gracefully shifting between motions as if
it were a form of ballet. Interestingly, its almost as if Galoup enjoys watching the young
men as a form of voyeurism, surveying them as men tend to enjoy examining women in
classical Hollywood films. Similarly, in another scene, the men and Galoup perform an
exercise where they oddly hug each other intensely while the captain watches in a long
and uncomfortable shot.

All seems to be going well for Galoup in in his solitary and regimented existence
until the handsome recruit Gilles Sentain joins the corp. The young Sentain gets along
very well with the other troops, inducing the resentment of the sergeant cast out from the
tight community of the lesser ranked. Theres a fiery underlying jealousy towards Sentain
inside of Galoup that consumes him once Forrestier praises Sentain for bravely pulling
the pilot out of a randomly malfunctioning helicopter. Forrestier applauds Sentain in the
type of language Galoup has obviously been craving to hear all throughout his long
legionary career.

During the funeral for a man who died in the helicopter crash, Galoup states:
That day, I thought of the end of me, the end of Forrestier. This sort of language hints
at the idea of Galoup loving or desiring to be with Forestier romantically, however, he
believed that Sentain was preventing this dream from becoming his reality. In the essay
Discipline Envy Marjorie Garber defines envy in such a way as to be useful in making a
connection to the wish to be like or to be someone else. The covetous sergeant
aggressively proceeds to try to undermine Sentain by talking badly about him to
Forrestier with no avail. The commander ironically tells Galoup It is not the legionary
way to stab your comrade in the back and Galoup responds by claiming, Sentain has
something up his sleeve, just wait and see. Denis doesn't always depict this powerful
jealousy through words, but via Galoups burning gazes towards Sentain and his
powerful first person narration.

At this point the sergeant amplifies his search to locate the trash can inside
Sentain, which leads to an eventual face off between the two. However, this face off is
more similar to a dance than a fight. The two men are shown on the cliffs, staring
intensely in the others eyes, and slowly moving closer to the other in a circling fashion.
Sentain and Galoup circle each other predatorily, two soldiers established as silent rivals
conveyed through intense physical gestures: penetrating stares, arched backs, clenched
fists. The men of the legion and the waves of the ocean (abyss) are shown in the
background of close-ups of the two mens faces in different shots, almost symbolizing
acceptance/order vs. nature/chaos. During this dream-like scene there are intense male
opera voices are chanting in the background, growing in a crescendo fashion as the two
men grow close. Once they get inches away from each others faces, Galoup and Sentain
seem just as likely to kiss as they do to punch the other, but before any actual action
occurs the scene suddenly is cut.

Near the beginning of the film, the narrator and main character of Beau Travail,
Sargent Galoup, makes some very powerful nostalgic personal statements. Twice we
repeats the phrase, freedom begins with remorse, and later in the film while on a train
he states, I am sorry I was that man. Galoup clearly feels guilty for his selfish and rash
actions while in the legion. Later in the film, Galoup pulls a gun out of a drawer and lies
on his bed. He places the gun right on his stomach. The camera then gives us a close-up
look at the sentence tattooed on the left side of his chest: "Sert la bonne cause et meurt"
("Serve the good cause and die"). Then a close-up of his left bicep shows the rhythmical
beating of his pulse, a static and silent shot, the films entire attention is focused on the

pulsing of Galoup's vein. In the final scene we see Galoup dancing alone in an aggressive
and primitive manner in a room to Corona's "Rhythm of the Night." While some interpret
this scene as a suicide, I believe it represents Galoup breaking free from his repressed life
of order and regiment, possibly even coming out of the closet.

Beau Travail is built upon suggestion, where erotic tension thrives, but no
fulfillment ever occurs. Is the face off scene even real, or is it just artistically
representing an amalgamation of the tension between Galoup and Sentain? Does Galoup
admire Forestier or is he containing a deeper desire? Is Sentain even aware of the true
reasons behind Galoup's distain for him? Denis constructs an environment where the line
is blurred between manliness and homoerotic tension. Denis makes exceptional use of
silences and stillness to set the mood and suggest emotional layers as the body language
is as important as the narrative or words. Denis' focus is inaction rather than action; the
soldiers rehearse tirelessly for a battle that never comes. This may be why Denis' film is
so suspenseful and full of tension, although a climax never ensues.