So far with Robert Bresson's films I've seen aside from this one (Au Hasard Balthazar and Pickpocket), I've tried to really get accustomed, if that's the word, to his very stark style where the details are not just important, they're everything to his style and craft. And his actors, of course, are worked almost to death with countless takes, making them in a state of mind that Bresson exactly wants. With A Man Escaped, I think these elements finally really work at their finest pitch. Some even go as far as to call this a 'perfect film', whatever that could mean (it's all based on point of view, as someone could even say that about any film when you think about it).
It's also unlike any other escape-from-prison movie I've ever seen. After seeing it once years ago and finding it a little too sparse, and with so much inner monologue, that I didn't really know entirely what to think of it, even as I knew I really got enthralled in spots. The second time around, however, really knocked me on my feet, through almost no full-on dramaticism, yet lots of it at the same time. If you're looking for the spirit-soaring Shawshank Redemption it may, or may not depending on your taste in film in general, disappoint.
Bresson is after something else much richer in context, which is to make a very technically proficient, carefully shot and balanced film that is actually sometimes very conventional, but with the details- that's the key- and the voice of a documentary. This is basically as simple as any given documentary you might find, as it is based squarely on the memoir of Andre Devigny (here called Fontaine and played by Francois Leterrier), and at the start Bresson explicitly states he is telling the tale as it happened. This, to be sure, is open to interpretation, as no one story can 100% be the entirely of how it happened. But it's this intention to get it down as it happened from Fontaine's point of view that makes the story, and especially the film, interesting. It's even gripping in what one would define or suggest as minimalism. But really it's not very minimalistic when compared to other movies. Very quickly, one gets inside Fontaine's consciousness, feels every creak as the Nazi soldiers walk by his room, the care he has to take in his preparations paramount. It works brilliantly by just cutting all the dramatic fat off the plate; the situation with this Nazi prison war camp could be any den of a hellish prison, where those in charge on guard are not seen (unlike many of the prisoners in close-up, we never even see a Nazi's face, only the boots and helmets and guns), and the conditions are such that just having a pencil can have you shot.
Thus Fontaine, soon assisted by a very young inmate Jost (Charles Le Claniche) hatch their escape, and when it does happen (and by the title you might be able to guess what happens at the end, though that's not entirely the point) all that led up to it makes it totally thrilling without an ounce of music or any extreme theatrics done on Bresson's part. All that led up to it, by the way, is contributed to by the performances, these performances that do seem as if they're being portrayed by actors clinging to life, which is a perfect move. Leterrier doesn't ever really emote in the way we'd see in a melodrama, and even when he cries he still lies in his bed with an expressionless face. But no matter, this makes every little expression in his eyes all the more meaningful then. This too with some other actors like Le Claniche and Ertaud's Orsini. And part of this documentary feel is contributed too by some others who don't even seem totally like actors, even as they're still believable. Finally, the music from Mozart, which chimes in its somber, elegiac tones, comes in when we really aren't expecting it, as Bresson almost denies the viewer the usual musical uplift or emotional connectedness to it- that is, unless it's totally necessary.
It's these same things that Bresson denies the audience that makes A Man Escaped really compelling, daring film-making, the kind that makes me very glad there's still some human spirit depicted well in films. This is illustrated at times through the meticulous use of narrative. The way narration usually works best is either when it goes all out ala Goodfellas, or if it's only once in a great while for punctuation. Narration can also go horribly wrong (i.e. the recent Black Dahlia), but not here, where after a while it's almost needed with the bits of details as much as just a few general thoughts.
I also liked, in the Sartre sense, how existentialism played a role in this escape, as religion only comes up in small pieces, and one line particular- "Easy? It would be to easy if God handled everything"- kind of sums up Fontaine's outlook on the situation. If this isn't done, he'll be shot. This kind of very basic, elemental need on the character, and on Bresson to tell it with his constant control of composition and form, is still to this day affecting. It can also, I think, work as both a fine tale of resistance during the French occupation, a film almost made FOR the French, and it can also work as something beyond the usual prison escape movies.
It's also unlike any other escape-from-prison movie I've ever seen. After seeing it once years ago and finding it a little too sparse, and with so much inner monologue, that I didn't really know entirely what to think of it, even as I knew I really got enthralled in spots. The second time around, however, really knocked me on my feet, through almost no full-on dramaticism, yet lots of it at the same time. If you're looking for the spirit-soaring Shawshank Redemption it may, or may not depending on your taste in film in general, disappoint.
Bresson is after something else much richer in context, which is to make a very technically proficient, carefully shot and balanced film that is actually sometimes very conventional, but with the details- that's the key- and the voice of a documentary. This is basically as simple as any given documentary you might find, as it is based squarely on the memoir of Andre Devigny (here called Fontaine and played by Francois Leterrier), and at the start Bresson explicitly states he is telling the tale as it happened. This, to be sure, is open to interpretation, as no one story can 100% be the entirely of how it happened. But it's this intention to get it down as it happened from Fontaine's point of view that makes the story, and especially the film, interesting. It's even gripping in what one would define or suggest as minimalism. But really it's not very minimalistic when compared to other movies. Very quickly, one gets inside Fontaine's consciousness, feels every creak as the Nazi soldiers walk by his room, the care he has to take in his preparations paramount. It works brilliantly by just cutting all the dramatic fat off the plate; the situation with this Nazi prison war camp could be any den of a hellish prison, where those in charge on guard are not seen (unlike many of the prisoners in close-up, we never even see a Nazi's face, only the boots and helmets and guns), and the conditions are such that just having a pencil can have you shot.
Thus Fontaine, soon assisted by a very young inmate Jost (Charles Le Claniche) hatch their escape, and when it does happen (and by the title you might be able to guess what happens at the end, though that's not entirely the point) all that led up to it makes it totally thrilling without an ounce of music or any extreme theatrics done on Bresson's part. All that led up to it, by the way, is contributed to by the performances, these performances that do seem as if they're being portrayed by actors clinging to life, which is a perfect move. Leterrier doesn't ever really emote in the way we'd see in a melodrama, and even when he cries he still lies in his bed with an expressionless face. But no matter, this makes every little expression in his eyes all the more meaningful then. This too with some other actors like Le Claniche and Ertaud's Orsini. And part of this documentary feel is contributed too by some others who don't even seem totally like actors, even as they're still believable. Finally, the music from Mozart, which chimes in its somber, elegiac tones, comes in when we really aren't expecting it, as Bresson almost denies the viewer the usual musical uplift or emotional connectedness to it- that is, unless it's totally necessary.
It's these same things that Bresson denies the audience that makes A Man Escaped really compelling, daring film-making, the kind that makes me very glad there's still some human spirit depicted well in films. This is illustrated at times through the meticulous use of narrative. The way narration usually works best is either when it goes all out ala Goodfellas, or if it's only once in a great while for punctuation. Narration can also go horribly wrong (i.e. the recent Black Dahlia), but not here, where after a while it's almost needed with the bits of details as much as just a few general thoughts.
I also liked, in the Sartre sense, how existentialism played a role in this escape, as religion only comes up in small pieces, and one line particular- "Easy? It would be to easy if God handled everything"- kind of sums up Fontaine's outlook on the situation. If this isn't done, he'll be shot. This kind of very basic, elemental need on the character, and on Bresson to tell it with his constant control of composition and form, is still to this day affecting. It can also, I think, work as both a fine tale of resistance during the French occupation, a film almost made FOR the French, and it can also work as something beyond the usual prison escape movies.