La 317ème section (1965)

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 | Colonial War | Uniform | French Soldier | Military

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

Heroes are only men....

America made many movies about the Viet Nam war, good ones and bad ones. On the contrary, France didn't make films about the Indochina and Algeria wars. But "la 317e" is not only rare because of this, but also because it shows war as it was really fought, not by Rambo-like superheroes, but by simple men, some courageous, some not... Besides, Shloendorffer is a great film maker, and you can feel during the film that hes was really there, that he shared tragic hours with these men.