A man escaped (1956)

Last Sunday I watched A man escaped (1956) by Robert Bresson and the film hasn't quite left my mind yet. If one were to read the synopsis of the story of this film, one would perhaps be led to think it is a run-of-the-mill thriller. It is not, even though Bresson's images in this film are replete with suspense. We see a handcuffed man in a taxi, two police officers (I think) - the handcuffed man escapes. The camera, however, continuously focuses on what happens in the car, rather than following the small chase that takes place outside. France/the German takeover/a prison. Fontaine, fighting for the resistance movement, is imprisoned, beaten and put into a cell with a small window that lets him look at the courtyard. The story of the film, in a nutshell, which is all there is, follows this man's attempts to escape from the prison. We know little about him, his story, what happened before he was imprisoned - we simply know that he takes every measure to escape. (Some have written about the spiritual aspects of Fontaine's determination and I'm sure there is a point to that) There are the daily routines of the prison. And A man escapes wonderfully gives us a sense of the prison routines, both those enforced on the prisoners and Fontaine's own meticulous planning. Food is eaten, slop buckets are emptied, faces are washed. However distant the subject matter of the film may seem, what makes it so engaging is its attention to details, small sounds, light and bodily movements. A few taps on a wall signals Fontaine's eager intentions to fulfill his plans. Sudden gunfire. A soldier absentmindedly lets his bayonette clatter against the railings as he accompanies one of the prisoners to his cell. This is a film without any trace of desire to flatter or titillate the viewer. It is very low-key, and very revealing at that. It really focuses on the moment as very few other movies do, in my opinion. That is why I found it so exciting, too. Another striking thing about A man escaped is its use of voice-over. Narrated by Fontaine, the voice-over does not provide us, as is ususally the case with voice-overs, "psychological depth". Mostly, Fontaine simply tells us about what he aims to do and how he intends to do it. When some descriptions of his own feelings are brought in, they are all the more striking.