Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes' English Patient reunion

Juliette Binoche says it was "joyful" to reunite on screen with Ralph Fiennes, 28 years after 'The English Patient'.

The pair have teamed up for 'The Return', Uberto Pasolini’s retelling of Homer’s 'Odyssey' and Juliette jumped at the chance to work with her former co-star again.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "We remained friends, throughout all those years, since 'The English Patient'. So it was just joyful to be able to reconnect onscreen. Ralph is not lying down this time, but I think Penelope is a kind of nurse, for being so patient of this ‘new patient’ who comes back to Ithaca.”

Ralph plays Odysseus, who arrives home to his kingdom Ithaca after 20 years away at war, to find his wife, Penelope (Binoche) a prisoner in her own home, fighting off suitors who want to marry her and rule Ithaca.

Ralph said: "Friendship isn’t always about working together. It’s about talking together, sharing a meal together but [the opportunity to reunite on screen] well it was a no-brainer. Juliette is like a compass for me, she has such an extraordinary, intuitive depth and understanding about what it is to act on film.

"This isn’t a Hollywood sword-and-sandals film, there is an austerity to it, and there are no gods, no monsters. Our Odysseus is a lost soul, a man bruised and scarred, psychologically scarred, by war, who returns home indecisive and unsure of whether he should reclaim his kingdom and take his revenge [on his wife’s suitors].

"We were aiming for a sort of sinewy look, of someone who has spent their life rowing, swimming and sailing and not eating a lot. Uberto was very anxious that I shouldn’t look like someone who’s been to the gym. And, frankly, at my age, I’m not going to put on a lot of muscle anyway. I put myself in the hands of this wonderful man, my trainer, and just surrendered to his will. What I learned is the key is a very strict diet. If you follow that, you shed unwanted flesh.”