Beau Travail

This event has been rescheduled and tickets are $5 for SFMOMA and SFFILM members.

“Denis adds a new visual dimension to her work with this lyrical adaptation of Herman Melville’s allegorical Billy Budd. On the African coast, in a nameless country of paradisiacal beauty and hellish poverty, a detachment of legionnaires punish themselves with drills and training rituals to fight boredom. Numbed by the pointless routine, Sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant) conceives an irrational hatred for Sentain (Grégoire Colin), a new recruit whose innate goodness perversely strikes Galoup as an affront.”
— Dave Kehr, SFFILM Festival

Film Details

Country: France
Languages: French, Italian, Russian
Year: 1999
Running time: 92 min
Format: 35mm
Director: Claire Denis
Screenwriters: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Producer: Jérôme Minet
Cinematographer: Agnès Godard
Editor: Nelly Quetier
Source: Institut Français

Films and schedules may be subject to change.

Modern Cinema’s Founding Supporters are Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein. Support is provided by Nion T. McEvoy and the Susan Wildberg Morgenstein Fund.