Beau Travail (4K Restoration)
Maybe freedom begins with remorse.
With her ravishingly sensual take on Herman Melville’s ‘Billy Budd, Sailor’, Claire Denis firmly established herself as one of the great visual tone poets of our time. Amid the azure waters and sunbaked desert landscapes of Djibouti, a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) sows the seeds of his own ruin as his obsession with a striking young recruit (Grégoire Colin) plays out to the thunderous, operatic strains of Benjamin Britten.
Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard fold military and masculine codes of honor, colonialism’s legacy, destructive jealousy, and repressed desire into shimmering, hypnotic images that ultimately explode in one of the most startling and unforgettable endings in all of modern cinema.
The film has been beautifully restored in 4K for this 2020 restoration.
“What Ms. Denis has made of “Billy Budd” is the visually spellbinding cinematic equivalent of a military ballet in which the legionnaires’ rigorous drills and training rituals are depicted as ecstatic rites of purification, the embodiment of an impenetrable masculine mystique before which the director stands in awe. Where another filmmaker exploring the same material might emphasize its homoerotic subtext, Ms. Denis is in search of something deeper, more elemental and ultimately more elusive.” (New York Times)
“A masterpiece.” (Chicago Reader)
“As much poem as film. It requires patience, which it rewards at every languid turn.” (Dallas Morning News)
“Whatever the reason, Denis’s stew of barely repressed desire and toxic masculinity is an exceptionally potent brew, one that looks and feels just as ravishing as it did when it first came out.” (eFilmCritic.com)
Saturday, January 3
Doors 6:45 pm | Movie 7:15 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE
Wednesday, January 7
Doors 8:15 pm | Movie 8:45 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE
BEAU TRAVAIL (Claire Denis, 1999 / 93 mins / 18A / French with English subs) Foreign Legion officer, Galoup, recalls his once glorious life, leading troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, but the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup’s mind. He feels compelled to stop him from coming to the attention of the commandant who he admires, but who ignores him. Ultimately, his jealousy leads to the destruction of both Sentain and himself.
*We recommend purchasing your tickets in advance at tickets.theparktheatre.ca. If a screening or live event is not sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for purchase at The Park Theatre’s Box Office on the day of the show, prior to showtime (subject to availability). Our box office is typically open 60 minutes before showtime.
*Please arrive at least 30-45 minutes prior to showtime to ensure time to locate seats seats, and purchase snacks at concession.
*All Park Theatre tickets are final sale. No refunds, transfers, or exchanges.
Foreign Legion officer Galoup recalls his once glorious life, training troops in the Gulf of Djibouti. His existence there was happy, strict and regimented, until the arrival of a promising young recruit, Sentain, plants the seeds of jealousy in Galoup's mind.
- IMDB
