Matchless Realism

o A Man Escaped

1956 / B&W / 100 Min. / French with subtitles
Robert Bresson, dir. / New Yorker Video

Like all of Bresson's work, this is a film wrought with a subtle hand. What makes A Man Escaped unique among his films is its subject matter. This is the story of Fontaine (Francois Leterrier), a member of the French Resistance who is captured by the Nazi occupiers. The film opens with a shot of a memorial at a Lyon prison. Its inscription reads that 10,000 prisoners were held by the Germans here, and 7,000 of them were executed. While Bresson manages to evoke a sense of the brutality and terror, the film spends most of its time focused on the day-to-day occupations of the young frenchman.

Fontaine's chief concern is to find a way of escape. His first attempt, in the opening minutes of the film, ends in failure and an inevitable beating. He spends the rest of the film planning for his next attempt. While he is doing so, he gathers bits of news from other prisoners during their brief encounters. By tapping on walls he develops close bonds with those in neighboring cells. As the film is punctuated with the sounds of gunfire, we share his anxiety: which of his comrades is being executed?

o The Necessity of Escape

Bresson is known for his use of nonprofessional actors and actual locations rather than sets. All his films convey an intense realism that is rarely matched. The films of the Italian neo-realists seem heavy-handed and theatrical compared to those of Bresson. The viewer senses that Bresson does not feel mere sympathy, or pity, for his characters, but holds a deeper understanding and respect for them.

As Fontaine nears completion of his preparations, he begins to have doubts. There are many unknowns and perhaps he would do better to take his chances as a prisoner. But then he is brought before a German officer and informed that he will be executed. While this quite understandably strengthens his resolve to escape, a complication arrives in the form of a new cellmate.

o A Natural Thriller

This film is a thriller, but not with the methodical plotting of Hitchcock's work. It is tempered by its humanity, a quality the films of Hitchcock and other masters of suspense rarely exhibit. This film manages to look at an episode in one man's life without it being overshadowed by either the mechanics of filmmaking or the machinations of politics.

-- Robert Stewart