I wrote back in my IndieWire days on the 10 Films That Should Be in the Criterion Collection, the article was written more than 5 years ago and five of those titles still haven’t gotten the Criterion treatment (Enter the Void, Sunrise, Freaks, Atlantic City, Talk to Her) whilst the other five have, including Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail”).
The film celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and a brand-new 4K restoration, supervised by director of photography Agnès Godard and approved by the director, is being released. Even better, the restoration of this 1999 classic is getting a Virtual Cinema release.
I wrote about the film back in 2015:
“It's no coincidence that this war movie bears many similarities to another female-directed dissection of male ego and testosterone: Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." This is an artsier film through and through, but no less remarkable; just the thought of its lingering final shot, which poses a turbulent, uncomfortable question, will give anybody – especially men – nightmares. Criterion has already released Denis' "White Material," an arguably lesser film compared to "Beau Travail," which has stood the test of time and now needs to be immortalized in proper fashion.”
Earlier this year, “Beau Travail” finished 14th as part of World of Reel’s critics poll of the 1990s. The 4K restoration of “Beau Travail” arrives in Virtual Cinemas, courtesy of Janus Films, on September 4.