Herman Melville

Men in the French Foreign Legion, escaping some personal or legal entanglement, can leave their lives behind and take on a new identity. In an outpost in Djibouti, the men of the Legion yield to the rigid discipline and unvarying routine of life within it. When new recruit Sentain saves the life of a fellow soldier, brooding taskmaster Sgt. Galoup sets out to destroy him. The film observes how power functions among men, and considers the consequences...