Robert Tassen (Gaspard Ulliel) hacks through the lush jungles of Indochina as the Japanese withdrawal emboldens Ho Chi Minh to engage the French enemy. Tassen is more focussed on wreaking revenge on the elusive Viet Minh commander who engineered the Japanese massacre of his family. And, his love affair with a beautiful young prostitute proves problematic.

France’s Vietnam colonial adventure (1887-1954) predates the American incursion, both ending in disastrous conflict and eventual withdrawal. Director Guillaume Nicloux’s magnificently-filmed late-WWll tale of France’s decade-long war is engrossingly portrayed through the haunting
imagery of one man’s experiences, tormented soldier Robert Tassen. The conflict is rendered senseless – under horrendous conditions, whoring soldiers mistreat each other, the enemy, and the Vietnamese people. War is hell...