Back on the RC4 road
Duration: 52mn
Director(s): Xavier de Lauzanne
Producer(s): François-Hugues de Vaumas, Xavier de Lauzanne
Production: Aloest Productions
DVD Editor: Aloest Productions
SYNOPSIS:
Tonkin, october 1950, French army High Command decides to evacuate the Cao Bang base, too difficult to defend against Mao’s troops. The withdrawal, ordered bu the RC4, was a tragedy for the French army. Vietnam, october 2000, 50 years after this disaster, a group of veterans returns to the stages of the toughest battles. They are 70 years old and they have come back on to remember being 20 in those places, despite their age and sometimes difficult conditions… The Vietnamese, however, celebrated a victory. Colonel Dang Van Viet, a perfect French speaker, was the commander of the RC4 front. He was 30 at the time, he is now 80. After attending the official Cao Bang ceremonies, he joins the group of French veterans to follow the RC4 up to Langson… Xavier de Lauzanne directs a fair and poignant documentary about people that are seldom spoken about : Indochina fighters. This is not a reconstruction, nor a historical analysis, but simply the testimony of men deeply struck by the war that opposed them in 1950. The subject of reconciliation is addressed with restrain ; the film’s balances tones makes us care for these characters little by little and helps us better understand the reasons for this region being so important to them. This film-debate takes us on an unusual journey during which the memory of war seems tangible. Thus, it urges us to delve into the still recent history of France and Vietnam.