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Return of the Hero

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Return of the Hero
Film poster
FrenchLe retour du héros
Directed byLaurent Tirard
Written byLaurent Tirard
Grégoire Vigneron
Produced byMarc Dujardin
Olivia Lagache
StarringJean Dujardin
Mélanie Laurent
CinematographyGuillaume Schiffman
Edited byYann Malcor
Music byMathieu Lamboley
Production
companies
JD Prod
les Films sur Mesure
StudioCanal
France 3 Cinéma
Nexus Factory
Umedia
GV Prod
Distributed byStudioCanal
Release date
  • 14 February 2018 (2018-02-14)
Running time
90 minutes
CountriesFrance
Belgium
LanguageFrench
Budget$10.6 million [1]
Box office$7.4 million [2]

Return of the Hero (French: Le retour du héros) is a 2018 Franco-Belgian comedy film directed by Laurent Tirard and starring Jean Dujardin and Mélanie Laurent.[3]

Plot

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In the Burgundy countryside during the Napoleonic Wars, Captain Neuville of the hussars gets engaged to Pauline Beaugrand, whose elder sister Élisabeth has quickly realised that the man is a liar and a fraud. Just before the wedding, Neuville gets orders to rejoin his unit advancing against Austria and rides away, promising to write every day. When no letters arrive, Pauline falls ill with worry and, to cheer her up, Élisabeth starts forging letters. Once the Austrian campaign is over, Élisabeth's letters say he has been posted to India where, as well as fighting the British, he is growing tobacco and raising elephants. Tiring of the subterfuge, Élisabeth writes that he is engaged in what may be his last battle and the letters stop. Pauline marries a shy neighbour, Nicolas, and has two children.

In town one day, Élisabeth is furious to see a stinking vagrant who is Neuville and, when he admits that he is a penniless deserter, gives him money to go away and stay away. In fact he uses the money to get cleaned up and, to her fury, pays a visit to Élisabeth's family. They are overjoyed to find that the gallant captain is still alive and are agog to hear his adventures. He reveals that he now has a diamond mine in India and is prepared to sell shares in the enterprise. Élisabeth is furious that he has taken over the story she invented and is now embellishing it to exploit her neighbours. As well as defrauding the local landowners, Neuville is working his way through their wives and starts an affair with Pauline. Élisabeth is furious and lets Nicolas know. He, being an excellent shot, challenges Neuville to a duel with pistols. When Pauline bursts in on the duel, Nicolas has to take her home, postponing the combat to Neuville's great relief.

An artillery regiment arrives in the area to stop a unit of marauding Cossacks and the general comes to lunch with Élisabeth's parents. Neuville is there and his tales of the war against the Austrians entrance the general, who is called away as the enemy approaches. In fact, the Russian cavalry are lining up to attack the Beaugard's house. Neuville tries to flee but, realising he will not get away alive, faces the charge alone with a rifle, bringing down several opponents. The charge ends abruptly when the artillery find their range and destroy the Russians, leaving Neuville a hero who is reinstated in his regiment. Élisabeth at last agrees to marry him, but the wedding is interrupted when the groom gets orders to rejoin his unit. He rides away, promising to write every day.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ "Le Retour du Héros (Return of the Hero) (2018) - JPBox-Office". Archived from the original on 2018-02-13.
  2. ^ "Return of the Hero (2018) - International Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Le Retour du Héros". Allocine.fr. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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