RETURN OF THE HERO
Film - Spotlight Filmfest 2018

RETURN OF THE HERO

Directed by Laurent Tirard

Info

Director: Laurent Tirard
Section: Spotlight
Country: France
Year: 2018
PT: DIE RÜCKKEHR DES HELDEN
OT: LE RETOUR DU HÉROS
Language: French
Version: Original version with German subtitles
Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Jean Dujardin, Noémie Merlant, Evelyne Buyle, Christian Bujeau
6+

Logline

RETURN OF THE HERO

Who can resist the charm of an adventurer? Captain Neuville shows up at Elisabeth's château and wants to marry her younger sister, Pauline. First, though, he must go to war for Napoleon. In order for the separation to not weigh too heavily on Pauline, Elisabeth forges letters in which Neuville gallantly reports to her from the front. She also fabricates his heroic death in India. But then the real Neuville returns from the war, drunken and tattered. As an ostensible war hero, he seeks to benefit from the engagement to Pauline that has hopefully been made. Only Elisabeth knows of the lies, and thus begins the zany duel of two scammers in a comedy of wild deceptions, starring Mélanie Laurent and Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin.

Meet the director

RETURN OF THE HERO

Laurent Tirard

Laurent Tirard, born in 1976, is a French scriptwriter and director who attended the film school at New York University. He started out as a script reader for Warner Bros. Studios and wrote for the film magazine "Studio". The first screenplay he sold earned him enough money to make two short films. Tirard's first feature film, MENSONGES ET TRAHISONS ET PLUS SI AFFINITÉS (2004), was a hit in French cinemas, but he became famous only after making the historical film MOLIÈRE in 2007. Tirard and his co-author Grégoire Vigneron were nominated for a César for their screenplay. Tirard's adaptation of the French children's book LITTLE NICHOLAS (2009) was seen by more than five and a half million viewers in France. Tirard and Vigneron were again nominated for a César, this time in the category of best adaptation. Together they also wrote the screenplays for Vigneron's subsequent films: ASTÉRIX AND OBÉLIX: GOD SAVE BRITANNIA (2012), NICHOLAS ON HOLIDAY (2014), and UP FOR LOVE (2016), starring Jean Dujardin.

Credits

Screenplay: Laurent Tirard, Gregoire Vigneron
Director of Photography: Guillaume Schiffman
Film Editor: Yann Malcor
Composer: Mathieu Lamboley
Production Designer: Françoise Dupertuis
Costume Design: Pierre-Jean Larroque
Sound: Eric Devulder
Producer: Patrice Arrat
Production Company: JD Prod, Les Films sur mesure
World Sales: STUDIOCANAL GmbH
Distributor: STUDIOCANAL GmbH