Yesterday I sat down to watch Beau Travail (1999) and, upon discovering I was tired, took a three hour nap before beginning the film. I think this was ultimately a good choice, as Beau Travail isn’t a film I finished feeling like I would have wanted to miss a single image or line, especially given it was in French and the dialogue was sparse. While the story is slightly vague and nonlinear, the film follows a group of French soldiers stationed in Djibouti under the command of Galoup, the narrator. The narration and events revolve around their training as well as Galoup’s specific interest in, and apparent dislike of, Sentain, one of the new soldiers.
I came away from the film particularly interested in the dancing it depicted, both explicitly and when it emerged somewhat unexpectedly from the soldiers’ movements. The first time I really noticed this dance element was one of the training scenes, where Galoup stands at the center of the circle and the soldiers jump in at him. I think dance and partnership as motifs appear earlier in the film too, in the scenes where people are actually dancing at clubs or when the soldiers are swimming with the knives, but this moment really stood out to me in its beauty. The rhythm of the soldiers’ feet creates a sort of music for this exercise which, on the surface, appears to be for sharpening reflexes. However, I felt it also reflected how in tune the soldiers were with one another. To me, a lot of the film is about hiding a softness under the guise of discipline. The men know each other so well because they are trained soldiers, but aren’t they also friends?
We see the dance motif reflected at other times throughout the film, for example when, and please excuse how I’m skipping around in the timeline of the film, the men are gathered around the fire, playing music and dancing, right before the scene I described above. This is a moment that illustrates their connection and their enjoyment of each other, but it is interrupted by a fight and then the next scene is the balletic training. There is so much tension in the film between their roles as soldiers and the camaraderie they subsequently develop. This is, of course, articulated in Galoup’s hatred of Sentain, who repeatedly shows the depth of his care for his fellow soldier. Dance appears again in the scene where they are practicing a hand-to-hand combat type thing, slamming into each other’s arms and then jumping out again (the moment in the Letterboxd background photo, if anyone cares). I hope this isn’t something only I noticed, but between Galoup and Sentain, Galoup completes this exercise with a precision: embrace, then let go. Embrace, then let go. Sentain, to me at least, seemed to be off-rhythm, holding the embrace and rebounding slower when it was time to release. Even if this isn’t a typically noted moment, I have no idea, I think it’s true, and I think it illustrates the difference between Galoup and Sentain that angers Galoup. Sentain is grounded in his respect and love (I am not making the gay argument necessarily, just to be clear) for his fellow soldiers. Galoup loves them, too, but, as is the central idea of the film, his sense of masculinity impedes this. His struggle with this keeps him separate from the group, in addition to his status as their commander. At the fire, he doesn’t partake in the festivity. When they train, he is in front or in the center. He isn’t united with them.
I think there are two more notable moments of dance in Beau Travail that I wish to talk about. The first is when Galoup and Sentain circle each other on the beach, getting increasingly closer with the operatic music playing. This is combat and this is dance. But where dance requires a partnership of absolute trust, Sentain and Galoup silently challenge each other, their individual perspectives on being a soldier threatening the other. This culminates in the final showdown between Galoup and Sentain, when Galoup catches him giving water to a soldier being punished, and Galoup drives Sentain into the wild for him to find his way back. Sentain never does, of course, and Galoup is court-martialed for presumably trying to kill Sentain. Sentain, as it is revealed, survives his exile, and is rescued from the salt flats. Sentain’s story concludes with the kindness of strangers, which is reflective of his approach to his military life. The end of Galoup’s story concludes the whole film, with him dancing alone to The Rhythm of the Night. Galoup loses what he has dedicated his life to, his soldiers and the military, but for once he is able to make the dance his own. He has no inhibitions in this final scene and maintains no discipline. He moves wildly and unpredictably, the antithesis of the “dance” in the soldiers’ training. Perhaps he reaches a peace with the push-and-pull between masculine stoicism and expressiveness. But, he is alone.
Like all of these explorations, I’m not sure what conclusion I’ve reached. Just some thoughts. I do particularly like a phrase used in this Letterboxd review: “post-colonial ballet.” I wish I could have written more about the themes of colonial militarism but I will be the first to admit I don’t really know much about the history of French colonialism. Anyway, I recommend!
There is Still Time 
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