Diên Biên Phu

original title:
Diên Biên Phu
other titles:
(Dien Bien Phu - Symphonie des Untergangs)
country / year of production:
France / 1992
original length:
140 min. , color
premiere:
4 March 1992
genre:
adventure
based on:
director:
Pierre Schoendoerffer
film script:
Pierre Schoendoerffer
producer:
Jacques Kirsner
cinematographer:
Bernard Lutic
editor:
Armand Psenny
composer:
Georges Delerue
cast (role):
Donald Pleasence (Howard Simpson) , Patrick Catalifo (Captain Jégu de Kerveguen) , Jean-François Balmer (AFP employee) , Ludmila Mikaël (Béatrice Vergnes) , Maxime Leroux (Artillery Lieutenant) , Donald Pleasence , Patrick Catalifo , Jean-François Balmer , Ludmila Mikaël , Maxime Leroux
more:
plot synopsis:
In the year 1954 the American reporter Howard Simpson travels to Vietnam researching the story of the ongoing conflict. At a bar in Hanoi he makes friends with a group of soldiers, members of the French Foreign Legion, who all fought in the battle of encirclement at Dien Bien Phu and tell hm about their different experiences.
keywords:
reporter , foreign legion , colonialism , Dien Bien Phu
war:
Vietnam War (1946-1975)
literature:
Marc Frey. Das Ende eines Kolonialreiches. Dien Bien Phu, 13. März bis 7. Mai 1954. In: Stig Förster u.a. (Hg.). Schlachten der Weltgeschichte. Von Salamis bis Sinai. München: Beck, 2003, 358-373.
Harry Thürk. Dien Bien Phu. Die Schlacht, die einen Kolonialkrieg beendete. Berlin: Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1997.
remarks:
The fact that the film could be shot on location in Vietnam examplifies the dramatic shift in the political climate almost 20 years after the end of fighting.
After "The 317th Platoon" (1965) this is Schoendorff`s second film concerning the Vietnam-conflict.
availability:
VHS