OUR HEROES DIED TONIGHT /
Nos héros sont morts ce soir

 

North American Premiere • Film noir, drama • France, 2013

DCP • 2.35 • Dolby SRD • B&W • 97 min

 

Directed by: David Perrault

Written by: David Perrault

Cinematography: Christophe Duchange

Film Editing: Maxime Pozzi-Garcia

Original Score: Julien Gester, Olivier Gonord

Produced by: Farès Ladjimi (Mille et Une Productions)

Cast: Denis Ménochet (Victor) Jean-Pierre Martins (Simon), Constance Dollé (Jeanne), Philippe Nahon (Ferdinand)

International Sales: SND Groupe M6

 

Set in early-sixties Paris, this minimalist, cinematic noir plunges into the seedy world of semi-professional wrestling, where backroom dives smell of Gauloise and sweat, and the fights are all rigged. Simon ekes out a living playing “The Specter”, a masked hero in need of a nemesis. Enter Victor, Simon’s lunky friend from the old days of the Algerian war. Fresh out of the Foreign Legion, Victor is in need of a gig. Rehearsed by Simon’s skeevy bosses, Victor is dubbed “The Butcher of Belleville”, and together, their new act gets the francs rolling in. But as these flawed characters grapple with their own narrow ideas of identity, masculinity, and friendship, this bare-knuckled film begins to brawl with a lot more than its milieu trappings might suggest. The staged beatings begin to take their toll, and Victor’s traumatic war experience leaves him uneasy wearing the villain’s mask. He decides to restore order, and be the hero for once...

 

Investigating a curious sixties photo of a masked hero sipping wine through a straw at a bistro counter, writer/director David Perrault discovered a once-thriving underground wrestling scene, complete with its own mythos. This long forgotten world of Lucha libre French-style inspired Perrault’s feature debut. A graduate of La Fémis’ screenwriting program, Perrault set out to pay tribute to a bygone era captured by the likes of French noir legend Jean-Pierre Melville (Bob le flambeur), and Robert Wise, the director of the 1949 boxing film The Set-Up – which had the French title, Our Heroes Won Tonight.

 

 “From its convincing performances, rich soundtrack to its picturesque cinematography, writer/director David Perrault's film dazzles.”

- Alex White Austin Indie Film Examiner

 

 “What director David Perrault does with these two rich characters is more along the lines of a continuum that includes Mean Streets, Mikey and Nicky, and even Sean Penn's The Indian Runner as it explores the self-destructive impulse behind the "anything for a friend" ethos.”

- Phil Nobile Jr. FANTASTIC FEST REVIEW