La 317ème section (1965)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Pierre Schoendoerffer

Writers:

Pierre Schoendoerffer (novel)
Pierre Schoendoerffer (written by)

Release Date:

31 March 1965 (France)

Genre:

War

Plot:

In Vietnam, 1954, a French platoon isolated behind enemy lines tries to come back. It is led by the inexperienced, idealistic sous-lieutenant Torrens, and by adjutant Willsdorf, a WWII veteran of the Werhmacht. |

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Based On Novel | Number In Title

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jacques Perrin	...	Le sous-lieutenant Torrens
Bruno Cremer	...	L'adjutant Willsdorf
Pierre Fabre	...	Le sergent Roudier
Manuel Zarzo	...	Le caporal Perrin
Boramy Tioulong	...	Le sergent supplétif Ba Kut

Directed by
Pierre Schoendoerffer

Writing credits
Pierre Schoendoerffer		(novel)
Pierre Schoendoerffer		(written by)

Produced by
Georges de Beauregard	....	producer
Benito Perojo	....	producer

Original Music by
Pierre Jansen
Gregorio García Segura		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Raoul Coutard

Film Editing by
Armand Psenny

Production Management
René Demoulin	....	production manager
Roger Scipion	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philippe Fourastié	....	first assistant director
Georges Pellegrin	....	first assistant director
Yi Sin Sing	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Te Hak Kheng	....	sound
Jean Nény	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Garcenot	....	assistant camera
Georges Liron	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Renée Deschamps	....	assistant editor

Music Department
André Jouve	....	conductor

Other crew
Brigitte Friang	....	production administrator
Colette Roy	....	production secretary
Mok Sath	....	weapon consultant
Bertrand Tavernier	....	press attache
Boramy Tioulong	....	technical advisor

Thanks
Norodom Sihanouk	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Les Productions Georges de Beauregard
• Producciones Benito Perojo
• Rome Paris Films

Distributors

• Rank (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• Concordia (Spain)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (1999) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cambodia army  cast collaboration

Also Known As:

317th Platoon
317th Section
Sangre en Indochina (Spain)
The 317th Platoon
317 battaglione d'assalto (Italy) [it]
317. osasto (Finland) [fi]
Die 317. Sektion (West Germany) [de]
Stin kolasi tou Viet Nam (Greece) [el]
Zug 317 (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

France:100 min | Spain:86 min

Country:

France | Spain

Language:

Vietnamese | French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Les Productions Georges de Beauregard

Synopsis and Comments on La 317e Section

In 1954 Vietnam, at the time of Diên Biên Phu, a French unit on patrol under the command of an inexperienced lieutenant is gradually depleted by Vietminh until only an ex-Wehrmacht Alsatian adjutant remains. He is to die, a title informs us, in Algeria in 1960.

Semi-documentary in style, this is an effectively low-key appraisal of the difficult choices with which war confronts its soldiers. As so often in Vietnam films the enemy is only glimpsed from a distance, the camera remaining a disembodied observer among the group. Bertrand Tavernier acted as co-writer on the film.