Dien Bien Phu (film)

Diên Biên Phu
Theatrical poster
Directed byPierre Schoendoerffer
Written byPierre Schoendoerffer
Produced byJacques Kirsner
StarringDonald Pleasence
Patrick Catalifo
Jean-François Balmer
CinematographyBernard Lutic
Edited byArmand Psenny
Music byGeorges Delerue
Distributed byAMLF
Release date
  • 4 March 1992 (1992-03-04) (France)
Running time
146 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguagesFrench
Vietnamese
Budget$30 million

Diên Biên Phu (French for Điện Biên Phủ) is a French 1992 epic war film written and directed by French veteran Pierre Schoendoerffer. With its huge budget, all-star cast, and realistic war scenes produced with the cooperation of both the French and Vietnamese armed forces, Dîen Bîen Phu is regarded by many as one of the more important war movies produced in French filmmaking history. It portrays the 55-day siege of Dien Bien Phu (1954), the last battle by the French Union's colonial army in the First Indochina War during the final days of French Indochina, which was soon after divided into North and South Vietnam. This was a prelude to the Second Indochina War, known in the United States as the Vietnam War.

The film was nominated for "Best Music Written for a Film" ("Meilleure musique") at the 1993 French César Awards. The Điện Biên Phủ original soundtrack was composed and partially performed by pianist Georges Delerue, featuring Japanese vocalist Marie Kobayashi. In 1994, at a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the siege at Dien Bien Phu, director Schoendoerffer published a behind-the-scenes book called "Diên Biên Phu - De la Bataille au Film" (Dien Bien Phu: From the Battle to the Movie). In 2004, during the 50th anniversary commemoration, Schoendoerffer published a full-length version of his movie in DVD format.