The (even greater) escape

Is it Shawshank? The Great Escape? Cool Hand Luke? Stalag 17? Or could A Man Escaped (1956), directed by Robert Bresson, be the greatest prison film of them all? This gripping work follows Lieutenant Fontaine, who is captured by the Nazis and held in Montluc prison in Lyon during World War II. While awaiting execution, Fontaine carefully and methodically plans his breakout, and we nervously await deliverance or disaster.

To listen to a recording of our CineVerse group discussion of A Man Escaped, conducted last week, click here (if you get an error message, simply refresh the page).

What’s particularly interesting about A Man Escaped is that it’s both biographical and somewhat autobiographical. The narrative is based loosely on a true story, the memoir of Andre Devigny, a French Resistance figure who himself was held captive by occupying German forces at a prison in Lyon, France, and successfully escaped. According to Criterion Collection essayist Tony Pipolo, Bresson also experienced “cruelty and internment at the hands of the Germans during the war.”

The entire film is shown from Fontaine’s point of view and occurs exclusively in and around the prison – with the exception of the final shots and opening sequence. We observe and learn just as Fontaine does, which helps build tension and makes us better identify with him and his predicament.

This isn’t your typical jailbreak picture. For starters, the film features untrained actors who were not professionals. This was part of Bresson’s style, as the director loathed thespian artifice, overemotive portrayals, and popular names – instead preferring unknowns who would be more believable because they weren’t “acting” in the traditional sense. Bresson guided his performers in a way that stripped away any traditional signs of performance. His goal was to eliminate theatricality completely and focus on creating cinema in its purest form.

Bresson was also an artist who abhorred flash and fluff, refraining from using clever camerawork, showy edits, unnecessary close-ups, sentimental touches, and grand emotional gestures.

Additionally, unlike so many other prison films, this one doesn’t have any speechifying or grand soliloquies. The few supporting characters that exist are given very little screen time. We aren’t shown the perspective of the enemy (in this case, the German guards or commanders). There is also no onscreen brutality shown by any guards toward the prisoners or between fellow inmates. Most significantly, there is no major character arc where the main protagonist undergoes personal growth or a transformation.

But, as in other prison stories, there is a sacrificial character who dies or is thwarted, thereby motivating the main character to learn from those mistakes. Also, there are bonds formed between the captives; there are new arrivals we and Fontaine pay attention to, as well, and we observe contraband smuggled by and passed around among fellow prisoners.

A Man Escaped is further distinguished from works in this subgenre thanks to its minimalist and spiritual approach. Bypassing opportunities for greater suspense, action, or violence, Bresson’s picture emphasizes quiet moments and the sturdiness and patience of his primary character. The prison break isn’t dramatized as a thrilling adventure but as a methodical act of moral resistance and faith. This stark simplicity directs attention to the prisoner’s psychological and spiritual journey, making the film less about the physical act of escape and more about the profound assertion of human dignity and hope under oppression.

“Fontaine maintains his sanity by necessarily evolving to see his newly endangered life as a puzzle to be solved,” wrote Slant magazine critic Chuck Bowen. “A Man Escaped is so absorbing because Bresson’s traditional methods of de-emphasis imbue the film with an almost maddening tension. The prisoner’s panic and desperation are felt, but rarely seen. We can barely read Fontaine’s emotions because he can’t afford to allow them to distract from the task at hand, and so the details of Fontaine’s preparation for escape come to be imbued with a pregnant, repressed urgency.”

More than any other theme, the film espouses the merits of grace under pressure. The key to success in a desperate situation, we learn, is to focus without feelings and exercise patience and discipline: to commit to intense concentration on a crucial task while concurrently removing emotions and fear. Fontaine faces certain death but refuses to dwell unnecessarily on his predicament and let feelings or worries preoccupy his mind or cloud his judgment, choosing instead to focus on whatever it takes – including the smallest details – to execute his escape.

A Man Escaped reminds us that no man is an island. Teamwork and collaboration matter in this tale, as evidenced by the aid Fontaine receives from other prisoners, most importantly his new cellmate, who proves necessary in escaping successfully. This is also a story about sacrifices and solidarity for the greater good. Throughout the movie, other prisoners quietly support Fontaine’s escape, often at great personal risk. One inmate helps pass secret messages from Fontaine. Others watch for guards and prepare to alert Fontaine while he is dismantling his door. One prisoner who unsuccessfully attempts escape tells Fontaine that hooks are needed to scale the prison walls. Many offer silent encouragement that strengthens his resolve. These small, risky sacrifices and acts of solidarity make his escape possible and highlight the quiet courage shared among the prisoners.

Additionally, Bresson’s work emphasizes our innate need for freedom and willingness to pursue it at all costs. These prisoners are desperate men who will all likely be killed by the Germans, motivating them to attempt breakouts. But even if the stakes weren’t this high, we get the sense that many of these captives would try hard to escape. Recall how Fontaine says: “I was determined to escape at the first opportunity… If I could only escape, run away.”

At its core, A Man Escaped suggests the power to inspire hope and faith. Per Criterion Collection essayist Tony Pipolo, “The protagonist of A Man Escaped is a soldier and a man of action, but, like his predecessors, he is also a spiritual force, inspiring hope in his fellow prisoners. This is epitomized when, to determine whether the adjacent cell is occupied, Fontaine taps on the wall, effectively interrupting, at that very moment, his neighbor’s suicide attempt. Later, this prisoner—Blanchet (Maurice Beerblock)—buoyed by Fontaine’s courage and resolve, contributes a blanket to allow Fontaine to complete the final ropes needed for his mission.”

Similar works

• The Grand Illusion (1937)
• Stalag 17 (1953)
• The Great Escape (1963)
• The Hill (1965)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967)
• Army of Shadows (1969)
• Papillon (1973)
• Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Other films by Robert Bresson

• Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
• Pickpocket (1959)
• The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)
• Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
• A Gentle Woman (1969)
• Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971)
• Lancelot of the Lake (1974)
• The Devil, Probably (1977)
• L'Argent (1983)