Viewed: 30 July 2005
Directed by: Claire Denis
Listed in: Movies, Netflix

The tale of a Sergeant of the French Foreign Legion in Djibouti, who through his own fears and jealousies creates his own demise. The dialogue is kept to a bare minimum, mostly just the voice-over narration of the sergeant. The plot is almost solely advanced through the sergeant’s recounting of his feelings towards a new arrival. The film seems more interested in a cult of the body, with Riefenstahl-eqse scenes of the legion going through its daily drills. Its beautifully shot, the landscape opposing the fit bodies running through choreographed shows of strength. The film lacks motivation for the characters, everything seems constructed in the sergeant’s head. In the end I’m not sure what really happened or what it was about.