Jump Into Hell

This decent war film starts out with a tribute to a fight against slavery. Unwittingly, the tribute actually described the struggle of the North Vietnamese against all foreign invaders and colonialism by the West. It was meant to imply the French were against slavery. Tell that to the colonials under their rule in various African and Asian countries, and they would laugh in your face. It has taken the world several decades to learn that colonial powers were the real slaveowners. And some have still not learned. The battle sequences are good, but, once again, one-sided. There is no character development of anyone except French people. The other soldiers are just mechanical men because they are communists. As if colonialists were morally superior to communists. I wonder why it did not occur to these people why the communists fought so bravely; as bravely as the French.

***SPOILERS*** Movie loaded with great battle scenes as well as cold war propaganda about the epic battle and siege of DienBienPhu in Northern Vietnam and the men of the French Foreign Legion and free Vietnamese nation who fought and died there. It's the spring of 1954 and the Communist Viet Mihn-forerunners of the Viet Cong of the 1960's and 70's- are making a last major assault of the last French resistance point in Indochina the jungle fortress of Dienbienfhu that's being held by a desperate force of some 12,000 French legionnaires and Free Veitnemese troops. Lead by Viet Minh commander General Ngeyn Von Giap the Viet Minh-named after Commie leader Ho Chi Mnih- have so completely surrounded the French fortress that the only way to supply it is by air.

It's French General De Castries, Arnold Moss, who plans to hold off the wave after wave of attacks until the last man as- well as bullet spent- is killed and exhausted knowing the hopeless situation, in being out numbered by the commie Viet Minh as much as 10 to 1, that only an a miracle can save him and his men. And that is all but gone when an air drop is ambushed by the Viet Minh who end up massacring most of the men dropped by air into Dienbienphu. All that's now left is for a last as well as suicidal assault by the Viet Minh to put a final end to the French control of Indochinma as the now 56 day siege of the Dienbienphu strong-point is about to come to an end.

***SPOILERS*** Great war footage, real and acted, as well as 1950's cold war propaganda in how the French were fighting for only the freedom and survival of the free Vietnamese people not their own imperialism makes this movie one of a kind in for-telling what was soon to come when the US was to take it's place in Vietnam and sadly suffer-some 20 years later- the same fate. The end came on May 7, 1954 when the Viet Minh broke through the last French defenses and overran the fortress. It was no easy victory for victorious Viet Minh losing 7,000 to 10,000 men in the battle compared to the loss of some 3,000 French legionaries and their Vietnamese allies. But it was to mark the final collapses of the French imperialist empire that lasted for almost 150 years with French controlled Algeria soon to explode and throw out its French occupiers before the year-1954-is over.

It is so far the only American war film speaking of French war in Indochina, with also ROGUE'S REGIMENT and Samuel Fuller's CHINA GATE. Later, US movie industry will evoke this period of war for France, just evoke and will speak more about war in Algeria, another colony war for France just after Indochina; this movie is LOST COMMAND, from director Mark Robson, starring Alain Delon and Anthony Quinn. Back to this one, from director David Butler, for whom it is the best movie for me, with maybe KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS, a medieval film, and also THE COMMAND his unique western and not bad at all movie, it is not at the level of Pierre Schoendoerffer's DIEN BIEN PHU, far far more accurate and based on the actual battle, which was a defeat for French. But yes, from a director specialized in operette, and musical or other flat comedies, this is a good surprise. Much footage material for this anti red propaganda film, and for this reason I think US movie industry took advantage of the defeat of French army against Communist soldiers to "attack" this very same political system. As they did for Korean war.

One of the Vietnamese characters, a troop on an airplane, pretty much sums up the overall issue in Indochina: they didn't want outsider Russians and Chinese, nor did they want the outsider French unless the French granted them some autonomy (he used the much-overused phrase "democracy"). Later, the vast majority of them didn't want the outsider Americans, either. After the departure of WWII Japanese occupiers, French Colonialists, anti-communist Americans, Russians and Chinese, and after fighting yet another border war with China after the Americans left, Vietnam finally became a sovereign nation. Whew, what a long slog they had.

Many heroic and brave French military and Foreign Legion troops were sacrificed in Indochina and the film properly credits their bravery, with some well done military depictions.

The Americans ended up seeming rather two-faced to everyone, having at one time sided with the Vietnamese nationalists during and after WWII only to drop them, later supporting the French because they were anti- communist, only to just simply abandon the French along with any and all representations expressly made or implied to them. I mention this mainly because some one-sided American cold war jingoism is used to an almost laughable extent throughout the movie.

Diplomacy is given lip service but actually played an important part in all of the Indochina conflicts. A Geneva conference is mentioned, and in fact a later Geneva Agreement reached by U.S. Ambassador Averill Harriman in 1961/62 effectively ham-stringed subsequent U.S. actions in the region. Constant conferences went on for decades regarding the Indochina situation.

The lessons of the conflict depicted in this film should not be forgotten but I believe it is a travesty that the word "Colonialism" is not emphasized in the film or in most reviews and discussions of it. I prefer to remember this film as a jump into Colonialism, which is was.

In 1992, The French made "Diên Biên Phu" a movie about the battle. It was their "Apocalypse Now". It's pretty impressive. The only other movie I have seen about the event is "Jump into Hell". However it is anything but impressive, and although there are some facts in there, the filmmakers didn't let them get in the way of the drama.

When I was a kid in the 1950s, I used to like this film. At the time it seemed a novel war movie set in an obscure place called Indo-China, and as it didn't involve our guys, it could be viewed with a certain amount of detachment. But of course a few years later it morphed into the Vietnam War and did involve our guys very much indeed.

Looking back, the views in the film seem awkward - Russian and Chinese communism is presented as the main reason the French are having such a hard time rather than any nationalistic spirit on the part of the Vietnamese.

The look of the film is patchy. Grainy documentary footage is mixed with scenes shot for the film and it isn't seamless. The acting is of the emphatic variety with exposition issuing from all and sundry.

The key points of the battle are touched upon: the outgunned and outnumbered garrison; the isolated forts all named after women that fell one by one, and the fact that reinforcements bravely parachuted in.

Long after I saw "Jump into Hell", I read Bernard Fall's history of the battle, "Hell in A Very Small Place". It left me with respect for the French soldiers, especially the paratroopers.

Jacques (Jack) Sernas plays one of the soldiers who parachutes in along with characters who were Hollywood's version of typical Frenchmen - wine and women being a big focus.

A recurring motif is the interaction between the commander, General De Castries (Arnold Moss), and defeatist Major Maurice Bonet (Lawrence Dobkin). Each time the major suggests surrender, instead of popping him against the wall and spraying him with bullets, the general sprays him with high-minded speeches about how they are sacrificing themselves for the freedom of the world. However after a gallant stand, the garrison of Diên Biên Phu did surrender.

"Jump into Hell" is a hard one to recommend to an audience these days, but it does reveal the mindset of the 1950s and in a way helps explain why the next phase of the war in Vietnam was probably inevitable.