Galoup (Denis Lavant), a former officer of the French Foreign Legion, lives harsh yet happy days in the Gulf of Djibouti, until the arrival of the recruit Sentain awakens in him a burning jealousy. Based on a short story by Melville, Beau Travail foregrounds the banality of the legionnaires’ daily routine, isolated from everything, as they occupy themselves with military drills under the scorching sun. In her most beloved film, Denis shoots bodies with sensuality, in a style closer to poetry than to narrative. A film neither of war nor of love, it culminates in one of the most beautiful dance scenes in the history of contemporary cinema.