On Guard (1997 film)
On Guard (French: Le Bossu) is a 1997 French swashbuckler film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Daniel Auteuil, Fabrice Luchini, Vincent Perez, and Marie Gillain. Adapted from the 1858 historical novel Le Bossu by Paul Féval, the film is about a skilled swordsman named Lagardère who is befriended by the Duke of Nevers. When the duke is attacked by his evil cousin Gonzague, the duke in his dying moments asks Lagardère to avenge him and look after his infant daughter. The film had 2,385,688 admissions in France and grossed $96,750 in the United States.On Guard received the César Award for Best Costume Design, and eight César Award Nominations for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Production Design in 1998. The film also received a BAFTA Film Award Nomination for Best Film in 1999.
Plot
In 1700 in Nevers, France, a skilled swordsman named Lagardère (Daniel Auteuil) challenges Duke Philippe de Nevers (Vincent Pérez) to a friendly duel in order to learn his secret lethal maneuver known as the "Nevers Attack". Nevers agrees and quickly dispatches the upstart whom he soon befriends. Nevers learns that he has a "son" by Blanche de Caylus—a fact previously concealed by his cousin and would-be heir, the wicked Comte de Gonzague (Fabrice Luchini). That night Nevers escapes an assassination attempt by Gonzague's men.
Le Bossu
Le Bossu (French for "The Hunchback") may refer to:
See also
Le Bossu (1959 film)
Le Bossu is a French-Italian swashbuckler film starring Jean Marais and directed by André Hunebelle. The film also featured Bourvil, possibly the most popular French comedian of the time. So successful was the formula that Hunebelle teamed up the same two actors for his next action film, Captain Blood.
Plot
Duke Philippe de Nevers (Hubert Noël) is an influential and popular man who is married to a beautiful wife called Isabelle (Sabine Sesselmann). His rival Philippe de Gonzague (François Chaumette) hates him enough to organise an attempt on him. The Duke is accompanied by Henri de Lagardère (Jean Marais) when de Gonzague's henchmen altogether attack him. Lagardère cannot save his friend because the both of them are hopelessly outnumbered. He has to escape in order to save the Duke's daughter and swears revenge. Together with his old buddy Passepoil (Bourvil) he raises the little girl in Spain. At the same time he returns frequently to France where he detects confronts his friend's murderers and puts them to the sword one by one until only their former leader is left. Finally he discovers that Philippe de Gonzague is the man for whom he is looking.
Le Bossu (novel)
Le Bossu (The Hunchback) is a French historical adventure novel by Paul Féval, first published in serial parts in Paris in 1858.
Loosely based on real events, the story is set in France in two distinct periods, 1699 and 1717, and incorporates real historical characters such as Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.
Plot summary
Si tu ne viens pas à Lagardère, Lagardère ira à toi! ("If you don't come to Largardère, Lagardère will come to you!")
Such is the oath given by the adventurer Lagardère to the wicked Prince de Gonzague, who has plotted to murder the daughter and seize the fortune of the dashing Duc de Nevers. In the first volume, Le Petit Parisien, the Prince de Gonzague murders the Duc de Nevers. Henri Lagardère rescues Nevers' daughter Aurore and raises her in exile, where she makes friends with a gypsy girl named Flor. The second volume, Le Chevalier de Lagardère, describes Lagardère's triumph over the Prince de Gonzague.
Influence
The novel is one of a number of works such as The Three Musketeers (1844) which helped define the genre of "swashbuckler" novel, known in French as a "roman de cape et d'épée".
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