Diên Biên Phú (1992)

An American reporter finds himself in the middle of the 57-day battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam between the French army and the Vietminh, which finally resulted in the defeat and ... See full summary »

Director:

Pierre Schoendoerffer

Writer:

Pierre Schoendoerffer

Stars:

Donald Pleasence, Patrick Catalifo, Jean-François Balmer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Pleasence	...	Howard Simpson
Patrick Catalifo	...	Captain Jégu de Kerveguen
Jean-François Balmer	...	L'homme de l'AFP / AFP employee
Ludmila Mikaël	...	Béatrice Vergnes
François Négret	...	Corporal
Maxime Leroux	...	Le lieutenant d'artillerie / Artillery Lieutenant
Raoul Billerey	...	Padré / Priest
Thé Anh	...	Ong Cop, M. Tigre
Christopher Buchholz	...	Captain Morvan
Patrick Chauvel	...	Lieutenant Duroc, DC3 Pilot
Eric Do	...	Lieutenant Ki
Ha Thu	...	Cuc, la femme de Thadé
Igor Hossein	...	Le photographe
Luc Lavandier	...	Sergent des Thais / Thai Sergeant
Joseph Momo	...	Koulibali

Storyline

An American reporter finds himself in the middle of the 57-day battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam between the French army and the Vietminh, which finally resulted in the defeat and surrender of the French forces and France's eventual withdrawal from Vietnam.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | defeat | dien bien phu | year 1954 | 1950s | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 March 1992 (France)

Also Known As:

Die Schlacht von Dien Bien Phu

Filming Locations:

Vietnam

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flach Film, Mod Films, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Final Scene is worth the entire film

I saw this movie in East Beirut some years back when I was reluctant to watch war movies. Donald Pleasance makes an English language appearance in a French Language film. And as always is riveting. However the film strikingly reminded me of certain world powers', their colonial aspirations and their consequent outcomes, related to Lebanon and Vietnam. The film unravels how they, the tail end of the Victorian era, French in this case, loose colonies, lost control, and what followed would turn out to be similar. It is interesting that even the coins of both countries were both called piasters, and both had slots in the middle, like much of the Asian coinage still does. The French tried to suppress the national uprising in favor of their own revenues, and later the Americans saw their opportunity, to target practice and sell goods, if to no one else their own GI's. Lyndon Johnson and his tribe started Southland Corp. aka(7-11)after all. Haliburton had a big hand in that conflict as well. This film is worth your while if you can find it. I haven't seen it on Blockbuster online or Netflix.