Pierre Schoendoerffer (, ; 5 May 1928 – 14 March 2012) was a French

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, a war reporter, a war cameraman, a renowned

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

veteran, a cinema academician. He was president of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

for 2001 and for 2007. In 1967, he was the winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for '' The Anderson Platoon''. The film followed a platoon of American soldiers for six weeks at the height of fighting in Vietnam during 1966.

Biography

Family

Pierre Schoendoerffer was born in Chamalières of a French Alsatian

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

family. As

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

was a territory contested and annexed in the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries by both France and Germany leading to the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

(1870) next

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–18), his forefathers were French, and lost all their belongings. His maternal grandfather, who was an 1870 veteran, volunteered in the French Army in 1914 at the age of 66 and the rank of captain. He was killed during the Second Battle of the Aisne at Chemin des Dames. His father was the director of the

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

hospital and died shortly after the end of the

battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

(1940), where he was injured. He met his wife Patricia in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

(then a Spanish-French joint

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

), she was a journalist for France-Soir. They had three children, actor and screenwriter Frédéric Schoendoerffer, director and producer Ludovic Schoendoerffer and actress Amélie Schoendoerffer. Pierre Schoendoerffer died, aged 83, on 14 March 2012 in France.

Early life (1942–47)

During World War II, Schoendoerffer lost his father and was not doing well with his studies at school in Annecy. In winter 1942–43, he read Joseph Kessel's epic adventure novel '' Fortune Carrée'' (1932), which changed his ambitions; he wanted to become a mariner and travel the world In 1946, he spent his summer as a fisherman aboard a small

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

in the Bourgneuf-en-Retz bay, near

Pornic Pornic (; ''Pornizh'' in Breton, ''Port-Nitz'' in Gallo language, Gallo) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. In 1973 the commune of Pornic absorbed the neighbouring munici ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

(close to

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

). From this experience he would later direct ''Than, the Fisherman'' shot in Vietnam, and ''Iceland Fisherman''. The following year he went back to the Pays de la Loire region and embarked on a Swedish

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

ship at

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

From mariner to war cameraman (1947–54)

In 1947, on board a merchant navy coaster, he sailed for two years in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. This experience would later find echoes in ''Seven Days at Sea'', ''The Drummer-Crab'' and even in ''Above the Clouds''. From 1949 to 1950 he left the sea to fulfill mandatory military service in the Alpine infantry's 13e Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins ("13th Alpine Hunters Battalion", 13e BCA) based in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and Modane, Rhône-Alpes. The Alpine infantry would later be the title character's corps in ''The Honor of a Captain''. Young Schoendoerffer had realized he was not born to be a mariner, but he did not want to be a soldier either, thinking he would be wasting his time. What he wanted to do was filmmaking. As he failed to enter the television and cinema industries, he began photography instead. One day as he read a ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' article about war cameraman Georges Kowal,

Killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

during the First Indochina War, he decided to try his luck in the ''Service Cinématographique des Armées'' ("Armies' Cinematographic Service", SCA, now ECPAD). In late 1951, he volunteered to become a war cameraman for the French army and was sent to

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

. There Corporal Schoendoerffer met and became friends with ''Service Presse Information'' ("Information Press Service", SPI) war photograph Sergeant-Chief Jean Péraud, who took him as his protégé. Schoendoerffer's first SCA production was a 9-minute short documentary ''First Indochina War Rushes'' (1952) that would surface thirty years later on screen in ''The Honor of a Captain''. In 1954, his friend and superior Sergeant-Chief Péraud asked him by

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

to join him at the battle of Dien Bien Phu and he dropped with the 5th Vietnamese Parachutist Battalion (5e BPVN aka 5e BAWOUAN). As a result, upranked Corporal-Chief Schoendoerffer "celebrated" his 26th birthday in the midst of the 57-day siege. He filmed the entire battle for the SCA but after the French ceasefire and the defeat, just as the other soldiers destroyed their equipment so that it would not be captured by the Viet Minh, Schoendoerffer destroyed his films and camera. This event was later depicted on screen by his own son, Frédéric, in Pierre Schoendoerffer's 1992 docudrama '' Dien Bien Phu'' recreating the battle. At the end of the battle in 1954, he saved and secretly hid six SCA 1-minute reels which ended up in Roman Karmen's hands.

From prisoner of war to war correspondent (1954–56)

After the battle, on 7 May 1954, he was captured and sent to a Viet Minh re-education camp. During the march to the camp, following Jean Péraud, he tried to escape with paratroopers commander Marcel Bigeard, but he was caught. Péraud vanished though and has since been

Missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...

. In prison, his life was spared at the insistence of Roman Karmen, the Soviet war reporter who directed all the main sequences illustrating the battle, from the Viet Minh raising the Red flag over General de Castries's bunker staged a few weeks after the siege, to the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was ''de jure'' the end of the "indigenous" () status of Frenc ...

POWs column marching from Dien Bien Phu to the re-education camp (a crane was used for the shooting), that are featured in ''Вьетнам'' ("Vietnam", 1955). During this time, Karmen had some friendly meetings with Schoendoerffer; they spoke about their job, and he revealed to the French prisoner that he had found his reels and had watched them. Karmen kept the reels though, so as a result the only footage covering the battle is from the Viet Minh's perspective. Schoendoerffer was released by the Viet Minh four months later, on 1 September 1954. On the battle's tenth anniversary, in Paris, Schoendoerffer was invited with Bigeard to comment on the Viet Minh footage, including segments from ''Vietnam'', which were broadcast on the French public channel ORTF (''Cinq colonnes à la une'' show) for the first time. After the First Indochina War Schoendoerffer left the French army and became a war reporter-photographer in South Vietnam for French and American news magazines: '' Paris Match'', ''

Paris-Presse ''Paris-Presse'' was a French newspaper published in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', '' Look''. In April 1955 he left

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

to return to France, stopping along the way in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Japan,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In Hong Kong, through the AFP news agency, he met Joseph Kessel, the adventurer, World War I and Free French World War II aviator, war correspondent, reporter, and novelist whose ''Fortune Carrée'' he had admired in his childhood. Over dinner and a long "Kesselian" night with a lot of alcohol and even a little bit of opium, Schoendoerffer narrated his three-year adventure in Indochina to Kessel who was impressed. Soon they parted, but with the promise to keep in touch in Paris. In Hollywood Schoendoerffer became an apprentice on a movie for ten days, thanks to his connections with ''Life'' magazine, but without a Green Card he was eventually forced to leave. Back in France, he signed his first important contract with '' Pathé Journal'' and two weeks later he flew to

, where the

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

anti-colonial rebellion was being emulated. He became a war correspondent, filming the riots for the French audience - Morocco was then a French

. There he met Patricia, a journalist at '' France Soir'', who later became his wife. In 1956, he resigned from Pathé, whose representative threatened him: "You are leaving us? So you'll never do cinema again, because we are huge!".

Writer and director (1956–2003)

At this point Schoendoerffer was confused with his young career, the

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Pathé bringing him back to the situation he experienced in 1951. As he narrated his Hong Kong meeting with Kessel to his fiancée Patricia, she convinced him to contact the one he regarded as an "historical monument". Kessel was actually searching for him since he had a film project in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, ''The Devil's Pass'', and he wanted Schoendoerffer to direct it. Kessel wrote the script, Raoul Coutard, a First Indochina War photograph (SPI) veteran was in charge of the cinematography on his first film (later he would join

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

), Jacques Dupont assisted Schoendoerffer with the direction and Georges de Beauregard produced it. In 1958, he married "Pat", Patricia, the journalist he met in Morocco in 1955. In 1959, Pierre Lazareff, founder of the newspaper France Soir (where Patricia Schoendoerffer and Joseph Kessel worked), asked him to direct a reportage about the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

for his ''Cinq colonnes à la une'' (ORTF) TV show. Thanks to Lazareff he later returned to Vietnam in 1966 and made his acclaimed ''The Anderson Platoon'' for the ORTF. Later in 1991 he went back to Dien Bien Phu and recreated the battle in a self-titled epic docudrama — in the fashion of '' Tora! Tora! Tora!'' — in which his son Frédéric played his own role as cameraman. The actual Vietnamese army was used to play the role of both the Viet Minh and the State of Vietnam national army fighting on the

's side against the Communists. Meanwhile, men from the French 11th Parachute Brigade played the role of the French paratroopers. In the 2000s (decade), his latest productions consist of the 2003 novel ''The Butterfly Wing'' (''L'Aile du Papillon'') and ''Above the Clouds'' (''Là-Haut, un roi au-dessus des nuages''), the theatrical adaptation of his 1981 novel ''Up there'' (''Là-Haut'').

Reception

Critical success

Pierre Schoendoerffer received acclaim in international short and feature film festivals. As a writer he won multiple festival, academy and military awards and prizes, including the Prix Vauban, in 1984, (celebrating his life achievement.) In France he is famous for his 1977 three-time

César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...

-winning '' Le Crabe-Tambour'' ("Drummer Crab"), based on his

French Academy French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-award–winning self-titled novel. His first success was in 1965 with his

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

Best Screenplay winning ''The 317th Platoon'' (''La 317e Section''). Both films are based on his experience in the First Indochina War. He is most known abroad, particularly in the United States, for his 1967 Oscar-winning

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

B&W documentary, '' The Anderson Platoon'' (''La Section Anderson''), originally made for the French public channel ORTF's popular ''Cinq colonnes à la une'' monthly show. It earned him an Oscar, an International

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, a Red Ribbon Award at the New York Film Festival, a BBC's Merit Award and an Italia Prize.

Awards

;Military honors: * Médaille militaire * Croix de Guerre TOE * Croix du combattant volontaire ;Civic honors: * Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur * Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite * Officier des Arts et Lettres * Chevalier des Palmes Académiques ;Artistic prizes *1965:

Best Screenplay The 317th Platoon *1967: Academy Award for Documentary Feature (Oscars): ''The Anderson Platoon'' *1967:

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

: ''The Anderson Platoon'' *1967: Merit Award (

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

): ''The Anderson Platoon'' *1969:

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual France, French list of literary awards, literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 19 ...

: ''Farewell to the King''

Fine Arts Academy

Pierre Schoendoerffer was elected at the

' Section VII: Artistic creation in the cinema and the audio-visual field, Seat#4, on 23 March 1988, replacing Guillaume Gillet. He was president of the Académie des Beaux-Arts from 2001 to 2007.

Filmography

Feature films

*1959: '' Ramuntcho'' (Ramuncho) based on the 1897 novel by Pierre Loti *1959: '' Island Fishermen'' (Pêcheur d'Islande) — based on the 1886 novel by Pierre Loti *1965: '' The 317th Platoon'' (La 317e section) — based on his 1963 novel *1966: '' Objectif 500 millions'' (Objective 500 Million) *1977: '' Le Crabe-tambour'' (The Drummer Crab) — based on his 1976 novel *1982: '' A Captain's Honor'' (L'Honneur d'un Capitaine) *1992: '' Diên Biên Phu'' (Dien Bien Phu) *2004: ''Above the Clouds'' (Là-haut, un roi au-dessus des nuages) — based on his 1981 novel

Feature documentaries

*1956: '' La Passe du diable'' (The Devil's Pass) — co-directed with Jacques Dupont, written by Joseph Kessel *1967: '' The Anderson Platoon'' (La Section Anderson) — ''Cinq colonnes à la une'' TV show *1976: '' La Sentinelle du matin'' (The Morning Sentinel) *1975: '' Al-Maghrib al-Aqsa'' (Morocco) *1986: '' Le Défi'' (The Challenge) *1989: '' Réminiscences'' (Reminiscences) — sequel of ''The Anderson Platoon''

Short films

*1958: '' Than, le Pêcheur'' (Than: The Fisherman)

Short documentaries

*1952: '' Épreuves de Tournage de la Guerre d'Indochine'' (First Indochina War Rushes) — segments are featured in ''L'Honneur d'un Capitaine'' (1982) and in two battle of Dien Bien Phu documentaries by Peter Hercombe (2004) and Patrick Jeudy (2005) *1959: '' L'Algérie des combats'' (Algeria That Fights) — ''Cinq colonnes à la une'' TV show *1963: '' Attention Hélicoptère'' (Warning Helicopter) *1973: '' Sept Jours en mer'' (Seven Days at Sea)

Bibliography

Novels

*1963: '' La 317e Section'' (The 317th Platoon) — adapted on screen in 1965 by himself *1969: '' Farewell to the King'' (L'Adieu au Roi) — adapted on screen in 1989 by John Milius *1976: '' The Paths of the Sea'' (Le Crabe-tambour) — winner of Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française - adapted on screen in 1977 by himself *1981: ''Là-haut'' (Upthere) — adapted on screen in 2003 by himself *2003: ''L'Aile du papillon'' (The Butterfly Wing)

Essays

*1994: ''Diên Biên Phu, 1954/1992 De la Bataille au Film'' (Dien Bien Phu: 1954–1992 From the battle to the movie) — based on his 1992 movie

Inspirations and influence

His inspirations

Schoendoerffer was primarily influenced by epic adventure novels, notably Joseph Kessel's ''Fortune Carrée'' (1932). Kessel wrote ''The Devil's Pass'' (1956) he co-directed with Jacques Dupont. In the late 1950s, he adapted on screen two Pierre Loti novels, first ''Iceland Fisherman'' (1886) then ''Ramuncho'' (1897). Following his 1992 motion picture '' Dien Bien Phu'', Schoendoerffer spent three years working on the screen adaptation of his favourite writer Joseph Conrad's ''

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

'' (1902).Pierre Schoendoerffer interview
, Roland Mihaïl & Antoine Silber,

L'Express (, stylized in all caps) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre-right in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''R� ...

, 17 May 2004 The script was ready and the filmmaker started location spotting for shooting but the producer didn't find enough money to cover the high production budget and so the project was eventually cancelled. Young Schoendoerffer was also inspired by Hollywood movies he watched instead of going to high school class. In ''The 317th Platoon'', there's a running reference to

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...

' '' Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1936) historical movie. In 2004, a ''

'' journalist asked Schoendoerffer his favourite movie:

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

's '' Ran'' (1985). Military photograph Jean Péraud was a "big brother" for him — he was three years younger — and "the most important person he met in Indochina" as well as an inspiring character model.''Dien Bien Phu: un portrait signé Schoendoerffer''
,

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

, ''Journal Télévisé 12h/14h'', 5 May 2004 His own experience as a mariner, a Vietnam veteran and a globetrotter is a strong inspiration in most of his works. This is obvious in the ''Drummer-Crab'', but the most autobiographical work is ''Dien Bien Phu'' (1992), where his elder son Frédéric impersonates him.

His influence

French actress Aurore Clément seen in the ''Drummer-Crab'' plays a role in ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...

s French plantation chapters connecting the Vietnam war with the French experience in the First Indochina War. During the production of

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

's ''

Platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

'' (1986), Stone, who was also a Vietnam veteran forced his cast and crew to live like an actual platoon in the jungle, it was the very same technique used by Schoendoerffer twenty one years earlier in ''The 317th Platoon''.

Film on Pierre Schoendoerffer

Produced in 2011, '' Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory'' is the first feature documentary about him. Directed by Raphaël Millet, it is a co-production between Nocturnes Productions and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA, the French National Institute for Audiovisual). In it, Pierre Schoendoerffer revisits his life and career, with a strong focus on the impact that his experience as a war cinematographer for the French army during the Indochina War had on him.

References

External links

*
International Herald Tribune obituary dated March 14, 2012

*

from the

*
A short biography
*
''Dien Bien Phu: a portrait signed Schoendoerffer'', French public channel France 3, News 12h/14h, May 5, 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoendoerffer, Pierre 1928 births 2012 deaths People from Chamalières French Protestants French film directors 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists French military personnel of the First Indochina War Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Prix Interallié winners Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners French male novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners