A Man Escaped

1956 French prison escape movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A Frenchman imprisoned by the Nazis plots an escape from his prison using primarily only a pair of spoons. Complications arise and then, as the title suggests, he escapes.

I'm a sucker for people-escaping-from-prison movies (and apparently television series), so this is right up my alley anyway. It's fascinating how director Bresson can create strong suspense even though we already know how things are going to turn out in the end. There's nothing fancy here at all, and Bresson uses non-professionals as actors. That--along with entirely empty sets, limited music (all Mozart), a focus on the minutia, and almost no scenes of actual action--gives this a realistic and claustrophobic atmosphere that keeps the tension high. Especially the minutia. In fact, most of the scenes are of the main character scraping at his door with the end of a spoon or meticulously twisting fabric to make rope.

If I had to escape from prison, I would hide myself inside a loaf of bread. Here I am, not in prison: