Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped is a simple yet meticulous prison film that tells the story of a French freedom fighter's escape from a German prison during WWII. The entire film focuses on this one character, Lt. Fontaine, a man that knows death approaches, via firing squad, if he does not escape. Robert Bresson's films have such a calm effectiveness to them and A Man Escaped is maybe the best example of this, with the film is being so detailed in it's approach, as we watch this man slowly figure out a way to escape using his own ingenuity. With this focus solely on Lt. Fontaine, A Man Escaped carries a severe amount of weight and the stakes of the story feel as high as they should. The camera work really captures the stillness of this man's life in this dark prison cell, utilizing off-camera spacing to really create an tense atmosphere. I also really liked how the film never seems to show the faces of the guards, rather making them simply a presence, standing in the way of Fontaine and his freedom. It's really an impressive feat that a film as minimalistic as Bresson's A Man Escaped can create such potent emotion and lingering moments of resonance, being another showcase of why Robert Bresson is considered one of the best.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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