A Man Escaped
1956, Action, 1h 42m
36 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
A Man Escaped is blockbuster Bresson, a well-acted POW drama that builds with subtle, seat-gripping tension. Read critic reviews
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Cast & Crew
Lieutenant Fontaine
François Jost
Blanchet
Le Pasteur
Orsini
Roger
News & Interviews for A Man Escaped
Critic Reviews for A Man Escaped
All Critics (36) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (36)
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Bresson's [film] is both the most realistic and the most poetic of jailbreak films.
February 5, 2019 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review… -
It is Bresson's unadorned, almost ascetic style that lifts the tale beyond a genre piece.
March 5, 2013 | Rating: A+ | Full Review… -
Bresson's masterpiece is still a pinnacle in French cinema.
March 5, 2013 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review… -
The prisoner's lonely ardor is enhanced by Mozart's Mass in C Minor; the ending of the movie, as the music wells up, is pure elation.
March 5, 2013 | Full Review… -
The best of all prison-escape movies, it reconstructs the very notion of freedom through offscreen sounds and defines salvation in terms of painstakingly patient and meticulous effort.
March 5, 2013 | Full Review… -
Even the title dispenses with unnecessary frills: A man escaped. What more do you need to know?
January 17, 2012 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for A Man Escaped
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Jun 23, 2018Director Robert Bresson's 'A Man Escaped' is the real-life story of André Devigny, a member of the French Resistance sent to Montluc prison by the Nazis, and is true to history. The style is stark and minimalistic, and while that doesn't necessarily make it dated, I suspect it had much larger impact in 1956, just a decade after the war, than it does today (artistically and emotionally). There are moments of real tension, starting with when the protagonist gets another prisoner assigned to his cell and wonders how to proceed with his escape plans, one option being to kill him. There are unfortunately also moments of tedium. Bresson is honest to the experience of imprisonment, but that doesn't make for riveting viewing. The Nazi guards seem remarkably absent - we see them at times administering punishment briefly, or bringing food, but they are in the background, and if the film wasn't based on a true story, you might think it unrealistically so. That may be part of the point, that there is an interior battle here, to never surrender hoping, to not give in, and to be brave, but when it's combined with under-stated emotion from the actors, I think it takes away from the realism that Bresson was striving for. I wish the ending could have been expanded upon as well. A solid film, but not one I'd want to watch again, or recommend without reservations.Antonius B Super Reviewer
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Mar 03, 2017Bresson is not interested in big emotions or catharsis (he doesn't even mind telling us the end of the film in the title) but rather drawn to details and method, and so he crafts a meticulous and tremendously absorbing classic that depicts each step taken by the protagonist to reach his objective.Carlos M Super Reviewer
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Jan 13, 2017A flawless, precision-tooled masterpiece, where every frame works perfectly. Unsentimental but profound and moving, it is suspenseful as any classsic Hitchcock, gripping from start to finish. I can see why it is sometimes sighted as one of the greatest films of all time.Daniel P Super Reviewer
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Sep 06, 2011As a realistic, breathtaking, influential and heart-pounding recount of a true POW story, it is a shining triumph. Bresson's style of constantly moving from one relevant event to another and letting images speak while assigning a great importance to silences and facial expressions confirms the truth hidden in the phrase "in simplicity lies complexity". Your complaint is that the title sells away the ending, right? Bresson has never cared about the outcomes; instead, his humanity testaments focus on the struggle of life itself given a set of circumstances. That's why he's misunderstood: not all people have fought in their lives even once. 98/100Edgar C Super Reviewer
A Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut) Quotes
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