Most every film in Robert Bresson's filmography has the power to steer the uninitiated away from the standard trappings of cinema and to realign the path of the experienced. A Man Escaped, like many other films by Bresson, shows what film can be if you can put aside the unnecessary and head forward with a clear view of what is important and vital. This goes for both the film and the world outside of it.

For viewers who have never seen a Bresson film this is an excellent one to start with because its like a student notebook of all the strategies he will put to use in his two early masterpieces Diary of A Country Priest and Pickpocket. Its a prison escape movie which focuses on the inner monologue of Fontaine from the time he is captured and tortured(which we don't see)until the escape but along the way he befriends several other prisoners and each prisoner is there for a different reason and there is very little unity among them and very little hope. One man overhearing of Fontaine's escape plan mutters "freedom" as if the word meant nothing any more. Each day shots are heard and each one knows it is only a matter of time until his turn will come. One prisoner finds solace in his bible and there is a religious quote or two which no doubt will reverberate with the religious minded and Bresson was a devout Roman Catholic but Fontaine is not particularly religious and he finds his very elaborate escape plan a means of keeping his mind occupied and his hopes high despite the overwhelming odds against him. We watch him as he carves at his door and as he winds ropes out of braided bedsheets and makes hooks from his window casing and its fascinating to watch because his life depends on it. There are fatalists in the prison who just accept that this is the end but not Fontaine. Its about as simple a story as can be told and yet there are interesting layers in this film. In such circumstances one is forced to come face to face with what kind of man one is and what one truly believes. In some ways Fontaines sanity lies in the fact he does think too much, he stays busy. This is as good a philosophy as any other. There is no greater incentive to make his every effort count than the one this situation presents. In the last scenes Fontaine is given a cell mate just before he is to make the big break. In just a few conversations he must take an accurate measure of this man who is only a boy and decide whether he can trust him with his plan. Once again its a life and death decision and he takes a leap in making the decision he does. From the cellmates perspective he has lucked out being put in a cell with someone who has an escape plan all ready to go. The actual escape makes you hold your breath and when they scale the final wall and take their first steps of freedom you find yourself as exhausted/exhilerated as they are. The later Diary of A Country Priest(also told mostly in inner monlogue) is not for everyone as it deals with the religious life in a way which will probably only interest those who have some interest in the topic. This film and Pickpocket will appeal to all audiences. Bresson's later films become more and more cynical and if you've seen some of them like Lancelot of the Lake(1974) or L'Argent(1983) this one is a refreshing one to come back to.

In spite of Bresson's note at the beginning, this amazing film about a condemned man's miraculous escape from a Nazi prison is so much more than just a re-telling of the historical event it is based on. It is an intimate, spiritual story of transcendent grace leading a man to freedom and within the context of the entire body of Bresson's work this prison can be seen as a representative example of the spiritual condition of the entire fallen world itself. But notice how Bresson does everything to avoid making this a large-scale story, as most directors would. The viewer spends most of the film time in the tiny cell with the prisoner and the camera is rarely more than a few feet away from him throughout the film. There is no use of the camera to create a large setting for the story. And for the viewer expecting such usage this film could seem claustrophobic. There is no development of character or plot beyond the preparations for escape. In fact there is nothing but the minutely observed details of the work of grace unfolding in the narrow confines of the prison grounds. And yet this film is boundless. And the only thing that makes such a film even possible is Bresson's extraordinary style of choosing images that relate to and suggest nothing but the strict, precise meaning and purpose of the film. Observe the very small amount of content in each image. Bresson lets absolutely nothing in that is not immediately related to this man's encounter with the Spirit that blows where it will. In the entire history of cinema there is not another film maker who could have achieved such concentrated profundity. Bresson is alone, he is in a category by himself. This is a great film by one of the great artists of all time.