X
  • 1997
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 47 m
  • 1997
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 47 m
A Self-Made Hero

Summary Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator. He leaves his wife and goes to Paris. Gradually he inveigles himself with the resistance movement. They trust him and he helps them trace collaborators.

Directed By: Jacques Audiard

Written By: Jean-François Deniau, Alain Le Henry, Jacques Audiard

  • 1997
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 47 m
  • 1997
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 47 m

A Self-Made Hero

Metascore Universal Acclaim Based on 11 Critic Reviews
81
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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My Score
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Summary Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator. He leaves his wife and goes to Paris. Gradually he inveigles himself with the resistance movement. They trust him and he helps them trace collaborators.

Directed By: Jacques Audiard

Written By: Jean-François Deniau, Alain Le Henry, Jacques Audiard

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 11 Critic Reviews
81
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 11 Critic Reviews
81
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
This movie is a pleasure, an entertainment and an admirable artistic achievement.
By Barbara Shulgasser FULL REVIEW
90
This sure-footed, deeply ironic comedy about an impostor who rises through the ranks is rock-solid entertainment with an appealing edge.
By Lisa Nesselson FULL REVIEW
88
Ingeniously rising above the ongoing culture war between France and the United States, Jacques Audiard's A Self-Made Hero piquantly offers a distinct subtext for each country. [3 Oct 1997, p.D7]
By Jay Carr FULL REVIEW
78
[A] distinctive, thought-provoking film.
By Russell Smith FULL REVIEW
75
Audriad's film articulates an uncomfortably familiar vision of a nation desperate enough to believe its own lies, where the copy is inevitably much better than the real thing and heroes are only as genuine as one needs them to be.
By Ken Fox FULL REVIEW
75
Director Jacques Audiard beautifully lays out the story of a charming nobody named Albert who becomes a master of the half- smile and nonchalant gestures of deceit. But the story is also a cogent metaphor for French collaboration with the Nazis.
By Peter Stack FULL REVIEW
70
But this miracle of self-invention has more virtue in the abstract than it does on screen.
By Janet Maslin FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Alicéléo, Cofimage 7, Lumière, Studio Images 2
Release Date Sep 12, 1997
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Tagline Les vies les plus belles sont celles qu'on invente.
View All Details

Awards

César Awards, France
• 6 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Stockholm Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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