StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

sergelamarche Simple story with little artifice of a man prisoner of the Nazis and condemned to the firesquad prepares an escape. For the 50s and with little means, this film works. The acting is mostly believable. It is still watchable but the escape from jail has been done and redone with many others, possibly betterly since.

evanston_dad Those who have been brought up on Hollywood prison escape films may find their patience tried by "A Man Escaped." This isn't an especially dramatic prison break movie, and we don't learn much about the main character, certainly not enough to have a huge rooting interest in him. We want him to escape because he's been imprisoned by Germans during WWII and we know the Germans were the bad guys in that conflict, but we don't think much about it beyond that. The bulk of the film details the meticulous and even rather mundane preparations that accompany this particular escape -- breaking apart a wooden door with nothing more than a spoon, making a rope out of whatever found objects one can re-purpose. I honestly wasn't that in to this movie. I appreciated its minimalist approach and its depiction of an escape as the way it would much more likely be in real life rather than the histrionic scenarios we've seen play out in other movies. But those very same qualities also by definition make it a bit less exciting. I realized that maybe what I want out of my prison break movies are unrealistic Hollywood trappings after all.Grade: B

avik-basu1889 'A Man Escaped' by Robert Bresson is based on the memoirs of André Devigny. The film starts with a note to the viewer that this is based on a true story and the note also establishes that the film is an unadorned account of the story without any embellishment. Having read that and having seen Bresson's 'Pickpocket', I immediately knew how this film was going to proceed. I knew it was going to be very dry with a conscious attempt towards minimalist filmmaking and that's pretty much how it turned out. Although the film at a basic level is based on the experiences of André Devigny, but I'm certain that Bresson must have used a lot of his own experiences from when he himself was imprisoned by the Germans to enrich the plot of the film. Thematically, just like 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'A Man Escaped' is also about the power of the human spirit. This film has religion and religious beliefs closely associated with it. The title of the film itself presents a fascinating dichotomy. On one hand the film is called 'A Man Escaped' which showcases the power of a man to escape his death. But on the other hand the title of the film is subtitled 'The wind blows where it wishes' which establishes Christian spiritualism in respect of pre-established decree. This balance between the two is also brilliantly expressed by a verbal exchange in the film. A pastor tells the protagonist Fontaine 'God will help you' and Fontaine replies 'He will help me if I help him'. Bresson uses a number of close-up shots of Fontaine's hands which drives home the idea that Fontaine's survival depends on his own actions instead of leaving everything to God. However, it never underplays the fact that Fontaine is also a man of faith. As a matter of fact he instills a sense of faith in the depressed old man in the cell next to his own cell.The film is directed in the most meticulous fashion. Bresson removes all that is unnecessary. He uses the journal accounts of Devigny and just shows us everything he had to do enact his escape. The sound in the film is very detailed and expressive. Where Bresson holds back the visuals, he uses the sounds to fill in the details. The last sequences in the film are staged expertly to build the tension. Bresson also uses Mozart's Kyrie whenever the prisoners make their daily trip to the grounds which gives the trips a very ecclesiastical feel to them, like devotees going to attend a prayer in the church.The problem that I had with this film is the same that I had with 'Pickpocket'. It's the acting and the way Bresson uses the actors. François Leterrier plays Fontaine in the most bland, inexpressive manner possible. His eyes sometimes tell us certain things, but his overall demeanor and expressions are intentionally blunt. Bresson's style of using the actors, similar to his style of direction is stripped down and very raw. Bresson never believed that actors had the ability to 'fool' the camera and he wanted them to express what has to be expressed through the actions. While I understand this philosophy, I don't really agree with it. It really becomes difficult for me to connect and remain engaged with a character. An actor doesn't have to have a very expressive face, but it has to have a sense of realism. I have not found his characters in 'Pickpocket' and 'A Man Escaped' very realistic in the way they carry themselves and this clearly is an obstacle for me in approaching his films.'A Man Escaped' is a very well made film with themes of spiritualism and the power of the human spirit in the face of stark austerity. It is well directed, but the style of using the actors was something that prevented me from completely being bowled over by it.

Sergeant_Tibbs After watching Mouchette recently, Robert Bresson's minimalist style was starting to grow on me. Although I found it sterile in something like Pickpocket, I've now found where his emotion comes from. A Man Escaped provides a thrilling setup right from the start. Whereas Pickpocket's best scenes were the ones featuring its title, A Man Escaped is constantly about the protagonist's slow progression to a breakout and it's a masterclass in designing a resourceful character. It could hold onto cheap tension, but it trusts subtle touches instead and results in a very mature approach. It's all about how humanity at its core has a need for escape as an act of self-preservation and how far they will go to get it to the point of considering killing someone else. This film is definitely Bresson's craft at his best but it's a little too dry to call it a favourite and not as emotional as Mouchette, if more psychologically interesting. Even so, Bresson sure does find a way to make his films feel much longer than they are with his crossfading editing technique. Is this the best his style can get or is there more awaiting me? We'll have to see.8/10