A Man Escaped (1956)

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

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

André Devigny (memoir), Robert Bresson (scenario)

Stars:

François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
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	...	Le garde cycliste

Storyline

Captured French Resistance fighter Lieutenant Fontaine awaits a certain death sentence for espionage in a stark Nazi prison in Lyon, France. Facing malnourishment and paralyzing fear, he must plot an extraordinary escape, complicated by the questions of whom to trust, and what lies beyond the small portion of the prison they are housed in.

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Plot Keywords:

escape from prison | attempted escape | prison | french resistance | prison cell | 

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Taglines:

Robert Bresson's Prize Winning Film

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

26 August 1957 (USA)

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 90 min (censored)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Bresson himself had been a prisoner of war during WWII.

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Quotes

Le lieutenant Fontaine: I laughed nervously which soothed me.

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Connections

Referenced in The Road to Bresson (1984)

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Soundtracks

Great Mass in C Minor, No.16 (K.427) - Kyrie
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

I love this movie for its great and effective approach.

This is one superior made movie. I don't know what it as about prison movies but they often work out as such great ones. This one manages to be original as well, due to its approach and just overall execution of it all.

It's perhaps that we really start to feel and identify for and with the main character, in a prison movie. We get to see the restrained and strict world he lives in through his eyes and we can hear what he is hearing and almost feel what he is feeling because we as the viewer are so close up to him. In this movie this is even more the case than ever. The story is being told completely from his perspective and also features his narration over the sequences. It makes the movie really an effective one. It of course also helps the movie and story that we can root for the main character, since he is a member of the French resistance that got caught and held in prison by the Nazi's, during WW II. We only see what he sees and only hear what he hears. And this movie uses takes great advantage of this approach. I especially liked the incredible use of sound throughout the movie.

But the movie does not only use a great approach, it also manages to build up its story extremely well. I just love how he plan his escape in tiny steps throughout the movie. He picks up up an item here, makes a tool there, sends and gets some information here, studies the guards movements there and takes just tiny steps every time to get closer to his breakout from jail. It's incredible how well and intriguing this works out all for the movie. Fore the movie and its story itself are actually being quite simplistic. This is not an high budget movie and uses limited resources to tell its story with.

It's also one of those movies that uses non-professional actors, to add to the movie its realism. This is a thing that was popular for a while with Italian and French film-makers. It did not always worked out too well for just every movie but in this case you can't really complain about it. The characters simply work out, so the acting was convincing and realistic.

This is such a great minimalistic movie. It does incredibly well with its simplistic story and concept and picks a wonderful, effective approach to it all.

9/10

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