Review of Beau Travail (2000) by Richard S — 05 Nov 2007

A stone cold classic. Lyrical and deeply nuanced, this is one of the most subtle I've ever seen. It manages to discuss foreignness in many of its guises, masculinity, violence, freedom and its relationship to form and order, action and physicality in their relationship to identity and knowledge, amongst a wealth of other themes, almost entirely by elliptical editing and highly intelligent shooting. With almost no diologue the film attains an almost Greek level of tragedy where the tragic figure is masculinity itself.

Can't say enough good things about this film. It's perfect.