The 317th Platoon

One of the rare films to deal with the French-Indochina war, Pierre Schoendoerffer’s work is a hard-hitting insight into the experience of the French armies on the cusp of defeat.

3rd May 1954: the battle of Dien Bien Phu is reaching its end. The 317th Platoon, under the command of the young Lieutenant Torrens (Jacques Perrin), supported by Second World War vet, Officer Willsdorf (Bruno Cremer), must leave its post in Luong Ba (northern Laos) to reach a rescue point in Tao-Tsaï, 150km to the south. The perilous journey through the jungle will prove a fierce test for the inexperienced lieutenant and force him to lay his trust in the veteran officer, despite their varying tactical and leadership methods.

When watching The 317th Platoon, you cannot help but wonder where this film has been for the last 45 years. The genre of war film has brought us innumerable works of unsettling power, but very few do so with such a direct and honest approach.

Schoendoerffer was a cameraman with the French army, who served in the battle of Dien Bien Phu and spent four months as a prisoner of war following the French defeat. He wrote of the experience in his 1963 novel of the same name, which he then adapted into this film two years later. The effect is apparent, as Schoendoerffer eschews cranes, heavy equipment and stylistic techniques in favour of a direct, ‘cinéma vérité’ aesthetic. The hand-held camera work is shot from shoulder height, as the director takes us into the bosom of the platoon’s daily experience.

Better known as the New Wave cinematographer of choice (his CV includes the likes of Breathless, Jules et Jim and Le Mepris), Raoul Coultard’s filmmaking origins also began as a war reporter/cameraman. His stark, black and white photography here leaves a harrowing imprint.

The authenticity of the film is supplemented by some fine performances. Shot in Cambodia, Schoendoerffer insisted on spending a month in the jungle with cast and crew (many of whom, like director and cameraman, had direct experience of this war).The result is striking; the soldiers appear weary and worn out by their harsh conditions and imminent loss, yet somehow resolute to their charge.

Such raw and accomplished filmmaking went on to inspire many directors, including Oliver Stone in Platoon or Francis Ford Coppola with Apocalypse Now – indeed the latter borrows a line directly from The 317th Platoon in “the white leaves, the yellow stays” egg metaphor. The difference with Schoendoerffer’s film is the lack of need to romanticise or heap on excess amounts of narrative back-story in the unavoidable Hollywood tradition, which accounts for the film’s efficient ninety minute duration.

The 317th Platoon is a graphic and searing account of war which pulls no punches. Cinémoi is delighted that this newly subtitled copy of the film will reach the wider UK audience it deserves.