A Man Escaped
Encyclopedia
A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth is a 1956 French film directed by Robert Bresson
. It is based on the memoir
s of André Devigny, a prisoner of war held at Fort Montluc
during World War II
. The protagonist of the film is called Fontaine. The second part of the title comes from the Bible
, John 3:8, and in English it is worded this way only in the Authorized King James Version (more recent translations using words like "wants" (which is the title in French) or "pleases" instead of "listeth"). Bresson, like Devigny and the character Fontaine, was imprisoned by Nazis as a member of the French Resistance.
The soundtrack uses Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, K. 427. The film was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival
.
On the way to jail, Fontaine (François Leterrier), a member of the French Resistance
, seizes an opportunity to escape his Nazi captors when the car carrying him is forced to stop, but he is soon apprehended, beaten for his attempt, handcuffed and taken to the jail. At first he is incarcerated in a cell on the first floor of the prison, and he is able to talk to three French men who are exercising in the courtyard. The men obtain a safety pin for Fontaine, which gives him the ability to unlock his handcuffs. This turns out to be pointless because, in reassigning him to a cell on the top floor, the guards remove his handcuffs anyway.
Once in cell 107 on the top floor, Fontaine begins inspecting the door and figures out that the boards are joined together with low quality wood. Using an iron spoon he deliberately neglects to return after a meal, he begins to chip away at the wood. After weeks of work, he is able to remove three boards from the door, roam the hallway, get back in his cell and restore the appearance of the door.
Fontaine is not the only prisoner trying to escape. Orsini (Jacques Ertaud) makes an attempt, but fails to get very far because of the lack of hooks on his rope. Orsini is tossed back in his cell and beaten up by the guards, and is to be executed within a few days. Fontaine is not deterred from his plan; he makes hooks from the light-fitting in his cell. He then fashions himself ropes from old blankets and fastens the hooks to the rope with wires taken from his bed. The other prisoners grow somewhat skeptical of his escape plans, saying he is taking too long.
After being taken to headquarters to be informed that he is sentenced to execution, Fontaine is taken back to jail and put back in the same cell. Soon he gets a cellmate, François Jost (Charles Le Clainche), a sixteen-year-old young man who had joined the German army. Fontaine is not sure whether he can trust Jost (whom he sees speaking on friendly terms with a Nazi guard) and realizes he'll either have to kill him or take him with him in the escape. In the end, after Jost admits he too wants to escape, he chooses to trust the boy and tells him the plan. One night, they escape by gaining access to the roof of the building, roping down to the courtyard, killing the Nazi guard there, climbing the wall and then roping to an adjacent building. They walk away from the prison undetected, and the film ends.
in Lyon
in 1943, during World War II
.
released the film on Region 1 DVD in 2004; it is currently out of print
. Artificial Eye
brought out a Region 2 version in the UK in April 2008. This disc contains a superior audio/video presentation and contains a Dutch documentary, The Road to Bresson
, as an extra. Madman Entertainment
released a Region 4 Australian DVD in July 2009. This release contains a scholarly audio commentary
by Professor Ross Gibson of the Sydney College of the Arts
, University of Sydney
.
Gaumont
released a Blu-ray Disc
in France on November 2, 2010.
Robert Bresson
-Life and career:Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life and the year of his birth, 1901 or 1907, varies depending on the source. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and...
. It is based on the memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s of André Devigny, a prisoner of war held at Fort Montluc
Fort Montluc
Fort Montluc is a former prison located on rue Jeanne Hachette in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France.Built between 1831 and 1835 for use as a military prison, after the invasion of the unoccupied zone of Vichy France in November 1942, the Gestapo used it as a prison, interrogation centre and...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The protagonist of the film is called Fontaine. The second part of the title comes from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, John 3:8, and in English it is worded this way only in the Authorized King James Version (more recent translations using words like "wants" (which is the title in French) or "pleases" instead of "listeth"). Bresson, like Devigny and the character Fontaine, was imprisoned by Nazis as a member of the French Resistance.
The soundtrack uses Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, K. 427. The film was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival
1957 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*André Maurois *Jean Cocteau *Maurice Genevoix *Georges Huisman *Maurice Lehmann *Marcel Pagnol *Michael Powell *Jules Romains...
.
Plot
After the establishing shot of Montluc prison, but before the opening credits, the camera rests on a plaque commemorating the 7,000 men who died there at the hands of the Nazis.On the way to jail, Fontaine (François Leterrier), a member of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, seizes an opportunity to escape his Nazi captors when the car carrying him is forced to stop, but he is soon apprehended, beaten for his attempt, handcuffed and taken to the jail. At first he is incarcerated in a cell on the first floor of the prison, and he is able to talk to three French men who are exercising in the courtyard. The men obtain a safety pin for Fontaine, which gives him the ability to unlock his handcuffs. This turns out to be pointless because, in reassigning him to a cell on the top floor, the guards remove his handcuffs anyway.
Once in cell 107 on the top floor, Fontaine begins inspecting the door and figures out that the boards are joined together with low quality wood. Using an iron spoon he deliberately neglects to return after a meal, he begins to chip away at the wood. After weeks of work, he is able to remove three boards from the door, roam the hallway, get back in his cell and restore the appearance of the door.
Fontaine is not the only prisoner trying to escape. Orsini (Jacques Ertaud) makes an attempt, but fails to get very far because of the lack of hooks on his rope. Orsini is tossed back in his cell and beaten up by the guards, and is to be executed within a few days. Fontaine is not deterred from his plan; he makes hooks from the light-fitting in his cell. He then fashions himself ropes from old blankets and fastens the hooks to the rope with wires taken from his bed. The other prisoners grow somewhat skeptical of his escape plans, saying he is taking too long.
After being taken to headquarters to be informed that he is sentenced to execution, Fontaine is taken back to jail and put back in the same cell. Soon he gets a cellmate, François Jost (Charles Le Clainche), a sixteen-year-old young man who had joined the German army. Fontaine is not sure whether he can trust Jost (whom he sees speaking on friendly terms with a Nazi guard) and realizes he'll either have to kill him or take him with him in the escape. In the end, after Jost admits he too wants to escape, he chooses to trust the boy and tells him the plan. One night, they escape by gaining access to the roof of the building, roping down to the courtyard, killing the Nazi guard there, climbing the wall and then roping to an adjacent building. They walk away from the prison undetected, and the film ends.
Cast
- François Leterrier — Lieutenant Fontaine
- Charles Le Clainche — François Jost
- Roland Monod — Le Pasteur
- Maurice Beerblock — Blanchet
- Jacques Ertaud — Orsini
- Roger Treherne — Terry
- Jean Paul Delhumeau — Hebrard
- Jean Philippe Delamarre — Prisoner No, 110
- César Gattegno — Le Prisonnier X
- Jacques Oerlemans — Chief Warder
Production
The film is based on the memoirs of André Devigny, who escaped from the Fort MontlucFort Montluc
Fort Montluc is a former prison located on rue Jeanne Hachette in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France.Built between 1831 and 1835 for use as a military prison, after the invasion of the unoccupied zone of Vichy France in November 1942, the Gestapo used it as a prison, interrogation centre and...
in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in 1943, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
DVD and Blu-ray release
New Yorker VideoNew Yorker Films
New Yorker Films is an independent film distribution company founded by Daniel Talbot in 1965. It started as an extension of his Manhattan movie house, the New Yorker Theater, after he discovered he was unable to obtain certain foreign titles for exhibition....
released the film on Region 1 DVD in 2004; it is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. Artificial Eye
Artificial Eye (distribution)
Artificial Eye is a DVD distributor in the U.S. and UK, specialising in foreign-language and art house films.The company is associated with the Curzon chain of cinemas in London....
brought out a Region 2 version in the UK in April 2008. This disc contains a superior audio/video presentation and contains a Dutch documentary, The Road to Bresson
The Road to Bresson
The Road to Bresson is a 1984 Dutch documentary film directed by Leo De Boer and Jurriën Rood. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Robert Bresson - Himself* Louis Malle - Himself...
, as an extra. Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
released a Region 4 Australian DVD in July 2009. This release contains a scholarly audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
by Professor Ross Gibson of the Sydney College of the Arts
Sydney College of the Arts
The Sydney College of the Arts in Rozelle, Sydney, Australia is the visual arts faculty of the University of Sydney. It is housed in the Kirkbride complex, a cluster of sandstone buildings designed by James Barnet, the government architect in the late 19th century...
, University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
Gaumont
Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
released a Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in France on November 2, 2010.
External links
- A Man Escaped review by François Truffaut (Archived 2009-10-23), from The Films in My Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978), p. 193-196.
- (fr) A Man Escaped, a critic from cinema website Zéro de Conduite