On the Margins of Beau Travail

Abstract

Placing myself on the margins ofBeau Travail and inspired by the montage technique used by Claire Denis, in this article I juxtapose scenes from the film with extracts from other texts to suggest an intertextual reading which explores the manner in which power and desire are articulated within a complex network of gazes. Beginning with the character of Bruno Forestier, whose gaze holds together the 13th Division of the French Foreign Legion, I move progressively outwards to consider in turn the structure of this division, the Africans observing it from its periphery, Galoup recalling his past, and finally the spectator on the margins of the film.