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IMDbPro

A Man Escaped

Original title: Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut
  • 1956
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
24K
YOUR RATING
A Man Escaped (1956)
Three Reasons Criterion Trailer for A Man Escaped
Play trailer1:56
1 Video
71 Photos
DramaThrillerWar

A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France.A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France.A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France.

  • Director
    • Robert Bresson
  • Writers
    • André Devigny
    • Robert Bresson
  • Stars
    • François Leterrier
    • Charles Le Clainche
    • Maurice Beerblock
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.2/10
    24K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Bresson
    • Writers
      • André Devigny
      • Robert Bresson
    • Stars
      • François Leterrier
      • Charles Le Clainche
      • Maurice Beerblock
    • 93User reviews
    • 97Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 4 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    A Man Escaped: The Criterion Collection
    Trailer 1:56
    Watch A Man Escaped: The Criterion Collection

    Photos71

    François Leterrier in A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    François Leterrier in A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    A Man Escaped (1956)
    Jacques Ertaud in A Man Escaped (1956)
    Jean Paul Delhumeau in A Man Escaped (1956)
    François Leterrier and Roland Monod in A Man Escaped (1956)
    Jacques Oerlemans in A Man Escaped (1956)

    Top cast

    Edit
    François Leterrier
    François Leterrier
    • Le lieutenant Fontaine
    Charles Le Clainche
    • François Jost
    Maurice Beerblock
    • Blanchet
    Roland Monod
    • Le pasteur Deleyris
    Jacques Ertaud
    • Orsini
    Jean Paul Delhumeau
    • Hebrard
    Roger Treherne
    • Terry
    Jean Philippe Delamarre
    • Le prisonnier 10
    Jacques Oerlemans
    • Le gardien-chef
    Klaus Detlef Grevenhorst
    • L'officier de L'Abwehr
    Leonhard Schmidt
    • Le garde de l'escorte
    Roger Planchon
    Roger Planchon
    • Le garde cycliste
    André Collombet
      César Gattegno
      • Le prisonnier X
      • (uncredited)
      Max Schoendorff
      • Un soldat allemand
      • (uncredited)
      • Director
        • Robert Bresson
      • Writers
        • André Devigny
        • Robert Bresson
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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      Storyline

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      Did you know

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      • Trivia
        Robert Bresson insisted on complete authenticity. Original author André Devigny served as adviser on the film, which was actually shot in the same Montluc prison where he was incarcerated. André Devigny also loaned Robert Bresson the ropes and hooks he had used in his escape.
      • Quotes

        Le lieutenant Fontaine: I laughed nervously which soothed me.

      • Alternate versions
        After the "Fin" title card, there is a version that plays music to a black screen, while another version displays "Exit Music" in white letters against the black screen.
      • Connections
        Featured in The Road to Bresson (1984)
      • Soundtracks
        Great Mass in C Minor, No.16 (K.427) - Kyrie
        Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      User reviews93

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      Continuing without change
      I hit an impasse with Bresson's previous film, Diary; he used a peculiar conflation of a search for transparent truth in the mysteries of life with anguish and dejection as romanticized spiritual journey, romanticized in the Christian sense where it's not spiritual if it doesn't have anguish. It seemed crude and without enlightenment.

      The impasse was; was the pious young priest for Bresson another person among others in the village led astray in the effort to rationalize his emotions, or was he above them, an ideal to aspire to? This was more interesting to me than the film itself.

      So I came to this hoping for the fresh light of retrospect. And what a stark contrast this is! Another idealistic young man who suffers torments, physical and inner, another life of anguish in four walls. But here Bresson draws the breath in, quiets the anguish, accepts the fact of it, and works to concentrate the senses and create physical presence. We've come far in our ability to do this, but it still resonates.

      The film is practically a long suspense piece, with a few questions about ethics suspended briefly. The man here, by contrast to the priest, simply does the work he sets out before him. He doesn't perceive himself a martyr of his cause, or a quiet sufferer of wrongs, he simply abides and prepares for the long night. His idealism waits to be found out until near the end when the charges against him are laid out; sabotage.

      It's fine work, easy to parse. It doesn't answer the impasse mentioned above so for that I'll have to go to his next one.
      helpful•5
      1
      • chaos-rampant
      • Feb 28, 2016

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      Details

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      • Release date
        • August 26, 1957 (United States)
      • Country of origin
        • France
      • Languages
        • French
        • German
      • Also known as
        • A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth
      • Filming locations
        • Studios de Saint-Maurice, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France
      • Production companies
        • Gaumont
        • Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Technical specs

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      • Runtime
        1 hour 41 minutes
      • Color
        • Black and White
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.37 : 1

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