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	...	Le capitaine Jégu de Kerveguen
Jean-François Balmer	...	L'homme de l'AFP / AFP employee
Ludmila Mikaël	...	Béatrice Vergnes
François Négret	...	Le caporal / Corporal
Maxime Leroux	...	Le lieutenant d'artillerie / Artillery Lieutenant
Raoul Billerey	...	Le père Bambourger
Anh The	...	Ong Cop, M. Tigre (as Thé Anh)
Christopher Buchholz	...	Le capitaine / Captain Morvan
Patrick Chauvel	...	Lieutenant Duroc, DC3 Pilot
Eric Do	...	Le lieutenant Ki / Lieutenant Ki
Thu Hà	...	Cuc - la femme de Thadé
Igor Hossein	...	Le photographe
Luc Lavandier	...	Le sergent des Thais / Thai Sergeant
Joseph Momo	...	Mamadou 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:

parachute drop | siege | transport aircraft | dien bien phu | french military | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Donald Pleasence caught a virus while filming in Vietnam which put a strain on his heart and caused the heart trouble which led to his death in 1995.

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Goofs

Vietnamese army's M41 Walker Bulldog tanks were used in the movie (former South Vietnamese army tanks). During the real battle, French army used only ten M24 Chaffee light tanks.

User Reviews

Interesting failure

Well... I guess that I really did like this movie in one way.. and in antoher way I really disliked it.

Basically one MAJOR!!! thing is missing in it.. Vietnamse soldiers, Vietmihn to be exact.

We get a good look at them in the end once the french have given up but that is just about it.

You might argue that this aspect of the movie should be true that you are indeed fighting some sort of an "unseen" enemy, but that is simply not true in the case of Dien Bien Phu.

Let me elaborate some what on that point, several forages and attacks were made from the French in futile attempts to roll up and out the enemy (i.e. a lot of close combat and SEEN enemies).

Several human wave attacks were launched against the French (most unsuccesfull though).

Finally the Vietmihn managed to dislodge the French soldiers by basically trenching their way to them, foot by foot, yard by yard.

At some points of the battle is somewhat more resembled a WWI scenario more than jungle combat.

I feel that the movie gave us a fairly good view of the French parts.. but just where the hell did the Viets go?

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 March 1992 (France)

Also Known As:

Diên Biên Phú

Filming Locations:

Hanoi, Vietnam

Box Office

Budget:

FRF1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flach Film, Mod Films, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1