I do not want to give it away but it does not turn out well for the French or us (U.S.).
Ken Burns is a very well known documentary maker on this side of the pond and his work is usually outstanding. Perhaps his magnum opus was The Civil War, which was distributed in the UK as The American Civil War, I had an English friend who watched it. But many of his pieces are excellent and well worth watching IMO.
Yeah, our (again, the U.S.) involvement started in the 1940's but the root problem goes much further back when IndoChina was colonized and shortly thereafter, some local did not care for that and became a nationalist. This is always how these things play out, some go more smoothly than others but the path is always the same: Country A occupies Country B, someone in or from Country B loudly points out that Country A should not be there in the first place and the unrest in Country B grows. Country B rarely, if ever, gains the actual ability to eject Country A but they do gain enough traction that Country A finds it just not worth the cost anymore (monetary, bodies, national focus, etc.) and packs off. Most first- world countries have gone through this either as a colonial power or in the act of 'maintaining the line' against a larger enemy, real or imagined.
It is tough to view it in those terms if it is one's own country playing the part of either Country A or Country B, and I was wary of Burns doing an even- handed job with Vietnam so soon after our involvement but I think he did it quite well. At least that is my opinion viewed in the cold light of day and history and trying to put my own personal feelings, memories, and outright biasing aside. The whole thing, at least the 'war' part occurred in my lifetime and so I believe my own views are no doubt tainted but I do try to look at it in a detached way, and believe that documentary did very well considering the film maker is an American, also lived through the period, and seems to have a definite political cast (meaning he absolutely leans 'left' or 'right' politically) in general.
As a Brit., you may have a different view and perhaps are less biased going into it, and I would be curious as to your view of the series.
Brian
Sounds very much like I'm watching the same documentary on the BBC at the moment.
First episode goes right back to the start of the problems there back in the mid 40's
(Being the BBC each of the 10 episodes is only 55 minutes long )
EDIT: Yes it is, just checked the credits