What makes it different from others?

Instant Favorite.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

Now I did it. My overblown ratings of other films by other directors make it impossible to properly rank the films of Claire Denis on any kind of rational scale. I've given Hollywood films a "ten" rating. By that standard, Denis makes films where the ratings should range from twelve to twenty. I'll give "Beau Travail" a rating of 18 (not twenty--I don't want to make the same mistake again and paint myself into another corner).It is simply not possible to explain how this genius has transformed my view of cinema. There is no pretense here. I am amazed at nearly every scene in a kind of collage of images and sounds. Denis takes the "military life" and turns it on its own homophobic head and produces the work of art. Viola! It's so far outside of our daily experience that it mirrors, not daily life, but that daily mental circus we call our minds. Claire Denis is like a U.S. major league pitcher throwing heat. You can either hit major league pitching or you can't. You either get this "type" of film or you don't.(But with time and maturity I think that anyone can come to understand this greatest of this generation's filmmakers. So don't despair if you are twenty-something horrified at what appears to be pretentious nonsense. Wait a while. With time comes understanding.) The characters in "Beau Travail" are in the French Foreign Legion but they are also representative of all soldiers. They are intensely motivated by hormonal secretions and cultural institutions. They are thrown into the winds of internal fires and drowned out by external tsunamis. They are young and dumb and believe they are immortal, and by golly, they seem to be just that. The conflicts that arise often seem petty and putrid when viewed from without, but from within these same conflicts fairly glow with the heat of pride and glory. No "psychological" analysis can reveal the essence of such conflict. No "homoerotic" projections can drain the sap from this tree of life.To be a soldier is transcendent. To be a failure as a soldier is to be thrown back into the ordinary world, and in some ways to fail at existence itself. It's not about "morality" but it is about truth and courage and honor and the real essence of what motivates us all. Dreams, not reality, are what we will remember when we cross over into the afterlife. Here, at the end of ordinary thought, we begin our journey into the mind of one individual and the daily, moment-by-moment living of life that he is loath to do. Man confronted by the pale and washed-out image, that is supposed to the here and now, but is only the after-image of life.I viewed this film without subtitles in the French language and I don't speak much French. It's not a movie about "blah blah." Let your third eye drink it in. Stop filtering what you hear and see. Free your mind.

Never mind the pseudo-psycho plot that is really just undeveloped, the music that is mainly purloined or the character development that is really nil. The scenery and the physicality are worth it. Imagine a place whose most interesting geographical feature is an immense salt flat stretching to the jagged mountains on the horizon, and you'll get the idea. It's hard to believe the French Foreign Legion is this romantic, but the bodies are certainly worth the show.No one seems to have observed that "beau travail" can be play on words in French. It can mean "beautiful work" but it can also mean "empty" or "vain" work. Clever.

A remake of Billy Budd in the context of the French Foreign Legion is a brilliant idea. Changing the point of view to the older, envious Sr NCO is also a brilliant idea. The film is beautifully shot.However... This has to be least convincing portrayal of everyday life in the Legion ever made. Young Legionaires don't have birthday parties with their CO. And they don't spend a lot of time frolicking on the beach. It's true they do spend a lot of time ironing, doing laundry, and holes, but the rigid discipline and hyper-masculinity that the Legion is known for is nowhere to be seen. My disbelief could not be suspended.

... but I guess I'd like it like other very personal Claire Denis movies. Mauvais Sang from Leos Carax and with Denis Lavant is also a personal favorite and I've seen it quoted somewhere. Just because a movie is stylish doesn't mean it's bad. Unstylish movies? Lots of them... Claire Denis succeeds in creating a very personal climax that makes for movies to be remembered long after you've seen them. Beau Travail would translate literally as "Beautiful Work" but I think the best translation would be "Nice Job" as in "You did a nice job, here". With the ambiguity of job meaning both work and occupation. I don't think "Good Work" is a proper translation like I've seen here and there.