In Apocalypse Now Redux there is a scene at a French rubber plantation near the Cambodian border. Were there any French plantations in Vietnam in the 1970's?

There is a need to separate Apocalypse Now from any sort of factual representation of the Vietnam War. Very little that we see have any true basis in facts, yet it is my own personal favorite movie dealing with the Vietnam War. While this might be a discussion more reserved for /r/TrueFilm, I would make the argument that the movie reflects the contemporary and often chaotic view of the Vietnam War as opposed to the reality of it (Take Coppola's quote of "My film is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam." as a good example of what I mean, even though he was personally referring to his own personal experiences during its production).

Nonetheless, there were still rubber plantations owned by Frenchmen in the late 1960s, even though it was very much on the decline. The infamous Michelin rubber plantations were all closed by 1966 and the remaining French-owned plantations were also being reduced due to loss in profits as a result of the damage that the US herbicide program had on their plantation, mixed with the fact that engagements actually took place on the plantations as well.

Take the case of Michel M. Michon for example. Michon was a former soldier who had fought in the French Indochina War and returned to South Vietnam in 1955 to run rubber plantations for a French company. He remained in South Vietnam until 1964 before he was transferred to run a plantation in Cambodia where he remained until 1972, by which time he had actually been running the plantation under communist rule. His memoirs were later published in English as Indochina Memoir: Rubber, Politics, and War in Vietnam and Cambodia, 1955–1972 (Arizona State University Program for Southeast Asian Studies).

We can establish that there were French rubber plantations in Vietnam at the time the movie takes place, but the portrayal of the isolated French plantation and its inhabitants is far more reflective of the 1930s than the 1960s. This, in my opinion, was a conscious decision since the Plantation scene can be interpreted as exploring the recent past of Vietnam, almost like it is providing historical exposition. Just take the beginning of that scene as they arrive at the plantation and encounter the plantation protection dressed up in complete French uniforms from the French Indochina War, or the discussion of the two wars at the dinner table.