LGBTQ+ Cinema: Beau Travail

Movie Spotlight on Beau Travail
Join Movie Club Member Elliot J. for the next installment of their series highlighting LGBTQ+ films. This month's movie is Beau Travail.

Here's how The Portland Movie Club Meet-Ups work:

1. Just like a book club, we watch the movie before we meet.
2. We'll meet at Lucky Lab at 4pm (Map) on the scheduled day & date. We typically have a sign at our table(s), but even when we don't, we try to be obvious and identifiable. Our favorite spots are the meeting room and the (heated) back patio.
3. Grab some food and drinks and spend some time socializing and discussing this movie with us!

A few notes about Beau Travail:
In 1999’s Beau Travail, Claire Denis adapts Herman Melville’s novella, Billy Budd, Sailor. Situating the narrative in Djibouti, Denis exchanges Melville’s naval warship company for a section of the French Foreign Legion. With an operatic soundtrack and very little dialog, the film is a poetic and deeply physical exploration of desire and jealousy, violence and fear, fraternity and rivalry. It is frequently cited as one of the hundred best films ever made.

Trigger Notes: This film depicts forced labor, homophobic slurs, and other material that you might expect to observe within an active, 20th century military detachment. For a more granular breakdown of the film's potential triggers, please see its entry on DoesTheDogDie.

Viewing Options:
This film is streamable on most or all of the leading platforms. It is also widely available for purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD, and for rent at Movie Madness.

LGBTQ+ Portland Movie Club Meet-Up Cinema Series
LGBTQ+ characters and themes have been present throughout film history dating back to pre-Hays Code era. The relationship between film and the LGBTQ+ community has had its ups and downs over the years and has been continually changing. This discussion group will highlight some key films that mark these changes and shed light upon the vast selection of LGBTQ+ films which cinema has to offer.
Tips:

1. Haven't seen the movie in a while? You're in for a treat - try to watch the movie sometime before we meet. As with a book club, we don't watch the movie at our meetup, we just discuss it. You don't have to watch the movie to join us, but it'll be more fun if you do.
2. Some members enjoy researching the films and sharing what they find with the group. Others prefer to engage with the films in a more casual way. Both approaches are absolutely fine! Most PMC members land somewhere in the middle. You may find it useful to take notes as you watch, but definitely don't feel obligated. At the end of the day, we're here to socialize and have fun.
3. If you come up with any discussion topics you'd like to explore with the group, bring them with you! We love fresh eyes and new voices!

Some of the films previously viewed and discussed in this series of PMC Meet-Ups have included: Tár, The Handmaiden, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, But I'm a Cheerleader, Sleepaway Camp, I Saw The TV Glow, Tangerine, Dog Day Afternoon, Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho, the documentary Paris Is Burning, and Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin, and Nowhere.

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