Battle For Dien Bien Phu

 

Picture: C-     Sound: C     Extras: D     Documentary: B

 

 

Though it is not discussed much, The Battle For Dien Bien Phu was the last battle for the French in Vietnam before The United States ill-fatedly took over and was such a disaster, one can understand why it seems to be ignored.  With the many mistakes in the Iraq situation, it is being ignored more than ever, but this older documentary issued a few years ago by Shanachie.

 

It puts you there in all the confusion, different from key dramatic films on the subject (Deer Hunter, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket) that do in different ways, as documentary always clearly explain everything or close to it.  Better context of the battle in the overall Vietnam situation can be found at:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3709/Vietnam+-+A+Television+History

 

 

This program is only about an hour versus 11 for that box set, but it has a rawness to it that is worth sitting through first before taking on that set.  The 1.33 X 1 black and white footage is much softer and ragged than usual, but one to see, so the quality (along with the slightly better Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) is not as important.  Through the quality and the brutality of the actual battle, you get the idea of how badly the French bungled.  When all is over, you become amazed that financial backers in the U.S. Government though they could do better, should get involved and often bungled as much.  Some of the answers to why are so dark, neither program begins to take them on, but the repeating of the same mistakes in Iraq point to the corruption that made this history unnecessarily repeat itself enough.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo