A Man Escaped (1956)
January 8, 2023 2:34 AM - Subscribe
A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France.
In a film based on the writings of French Resistance fighter and POW André Devigny, Fontaine (François Leterrier) is being held by the Nazis at Fort Montluc. When he gets word that he's scheduled for execution, Fontaine channels his energy into hatching a plan to break out. His plan is interrupted when he is assigned a new roommate. Fontaine grudgingly brings the newcomer in on the escape effort, which involves homespun weapons and an intricate knowledge of the layout of the prison itself.
Janet Graves: A powerful French film (titles in English) focuses on the eternally fascinating theme of escape from prison. It’s classic in outline, though set in the ugliest period of modern times. As a French resistance fighter. Francois Le- terrier is captured by the Nazis occupy- ing his country. Condemned to death but left in suspense for endless months, he plans his getaway and works with incredible patience to unloose his cell door. Communications with frightened yet often courageous fellow prisoners are utterly touching. When the moment of escape is finally at hand, Leterrier finds himself stuck with a new cell-mate, a scared kid who may or may not be a Nazi spy. The story is based on fact, and it has the urgency of truth throughout
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: In a conversation early on in the film a priest tells Fontaine that “God will save you”, to which Fontaine replies matter-of-factly “only if he has help”. This, in brief, sums up the moral universe of Bresson’s films, and the world of A Man Escaped. We may be in prison, but we can escape. Faith is essential, but it can only do part of the work. In the final result, we are responsible for our fates, even as God seeks, in Bresson’s view, to intervene on our behalf. But our own actions, and our determination despite the obstacles in our path, are the most important factors in our survival and in overcoming the evils that life confronts us with. For Bresson, A Man Escaped is the perfect expression of the director’s own view of life, and personal accountability; we must work towards liberty, even as existence strives to shackle us in chains.
Jaime N. Christley: While A Man Escaped gains power from these two levels of story, there’s the material and spiritual thematic layers, which are carried out in watching Fontaine systematically engineer the means of his escape while remaining steadfast in his focus; even his momentary feelings of doubt seems to complete some variation on the stations of the cross. What’s dazzling here is the paradoxical coexistence of a story that’s both right before our eyes, as well as invisible and intangible. In many ways, the uncanny sound mix—Bresson, like Tati, was one of the great “sound architects” of the cinema, often constructing a film’s soundtrack, dialogue and effects alike, entirely in the studio—plays a large role in the latter.
Trailer
In a film based on the writings of French Resistance fighter and POW André Devigny, Fontaine (François Leterrier) is being held by the Nazis at Fort Montluc. When he gets word that he's scheduled for execution, Fontaine channels his energy into hatching a plan to break out. His plan is interrupted when he is assigned a new roommate. Fontaine grudgingly brings the newcomer in on the escape effort, which involves homespun weapons and an intricate knowledge of the layout of the prison itself.
Janet Graves: A powerful French film (titles in English) focuses on the eternally fascinating theme of escape from prison. It’s classic in outline, though set in the ugliest period of modern times. As a French resistance fighter. Francois Le- terrier is captured by the Nazis occupy- ing his country. Condemned to death but left in suspense for endless months, he plans his getaway and works with incredible patience to unloose his cell door. Communications with frightened yet often courageous fellow prisoners are utterly touching. When the moment of escape is finally at hand, Leterrier finds himself stuck with a new cell-mate, a scared kid who may or may not be a Nazi spy. The story is based on fact, and it has the urgency of truth throughout
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: In a conversation early on in the film a priest tells Fontaine that “God will save you”, to which Fontaine replies matter-of-factly “only if he has help”. This, in brief, sums up the moral universe of Bresson’s films, and the world of A Man Escaped. We may be in prison, but we can escape. Faith is essential, but it can only do part of the work. In the final result, we are responsible for our fates, even as God seeks, in Bresson’s view, to intervene on our behalf. But our own actions, and our determination despite the obstacles in our path, are the most important factors in our survival and in overcoming the evils that life confronts us with. For Bresson, A Man Escaped is the perfect expression of the director’s own view of life, and personal accountability; we must work towards liberty, even as existence strives to shackle us in chains.
Jaime N. Christley: While A Man Escaped gains power from these two levels of story, there’s the material and spiritual thematic layers, which are carried out in watching Fontaine systematically engineer the means of his escape while remaining steadfast in his focus; even his momentary feelings of doubt seems to complete some variation on the stations of the cross. What’s dazzling here is the paradoxical coexistence of a story that’s both right before our eyes, as well as invisible and intangible. In many ways, the uncanny sound mix—Bresson, like Tati, was one of the great “sound architects” of the cinema, often constructing a film’s soundtrack, dialogue and effects alike, entirely in the studio—plays a large role in the latter.
Trailer
Reminded me a lot of Escape from Alcatraz, which I suppose owes a lot of it's movie to this one. It's amazing how claustrophobic it becomes, you feel like you're trapped in there with him, and then when the new roommate is added the cell becomes so cramped. I love how you become attuned to the rhythms of the prison, and how meditative and deliberate his actions are. There are so many possible metaphors or interpretations that come to mind when thinking about it. It really does stand out though as some fantastic cinema.
posted by Carillon at 10:57 AM on January 8, 2023
posted by Carillon at 10:57 AM on January 8, 2023
I think this is very much a your-mileage-may-vary thing, but I personally wanted to know at least a TINY bit more of Fontaine's back story or inner life or something. My roommate and I got into a lengthy debate about that - he felt that "he wants to escape because he's in a Nazi prison, isn't that enough characterization?" but I still couldn't shake the wish that I'd have enjoyed this more with even just a TINY, TINY bit more info about Fontaine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:56 PM on January 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:56 PM on January 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh man really? I actually love that we don't get a ton of background on him, but he's not just like a blank slate, he's a member of the resistance, feels he does important work there enough to try and get messages out. You can tell he's careful, always standing by the door in the later scenes so it doesn't slam and get him caught out. Also too it comes across as really reducing your view of his world into the same as his. At the start he can see more of the world, but as his incarceration continues, the camera and the world shift more and more to the task in front of him. I'm curious, what do you feel is missing or would provide more context? The reason for his strong desire to escape?
posted by Carillon at 9:05 PM on January 8, 2023
posted by Carillon at 9:05 PM on January 8, 2023
I don't know. I didn't know then; it just felt like a whole lot of attention paid to the exact logistics and mechanics of his escape, and the one time anyone talked a little bit at all about "who are you and what's your scene," it was the cellmate, just like a 30-second conversation, and then when the cellmate asked him "and what about you," Fontaine just shut that down by saying "we need to go to sleep now" or something and that felt frustrating somehow.
I was dwelling on it, and even unsure about my own reaction, until I saw a similar film called Le Trou - that was also a prison break film, and that also dealt a lot with the nuts-and-bolts of the escape, but it did offer just a little taste of each prisoner's personality, you know? Just a tiny bit in some cases - one guy was prone to corny jokes, and that was enough.
So I don't think it was backstory I needed so much as just a whiff of characterization. Fontaine just is "dude escaping from prison" and I wanted to know him a tiny bit more, even if it was just one character trait to distinguish him from every other person who wants to escape prison. Like, make him left-handed, make him an auto mechanic, make him hate shrimp, something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:24 AM on January 9, 2023
I was dwelling on it, and even unsure about my own reaction, until I saw a similar film called Le Trou - that was also a prison break film, and that also dealt a lot with the nuts-and-bolts of the escape, but it did offer just a little taste of each prisoner's personality, you know? Just a tiny bit in some cases - one guy was prone to corny jokes, and that was enough.
So I don't think it was backstory I needed so much as just a whiff of characterization. Fontaine just is "dude escaping from prison" and I wanted to know him a tiny bit more, even if it was just one character trait to distinguish him from every other person who wants to escape prison. Like, make him left-handed, make him an auto mechanic, make him hate shrimp, something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:24 AM on January 9, 2023
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posted by johnofjack at 8:39 AM on January 8, 2023