A new 35mm print of Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956), based on an actual prison escape and inspired by Bresson’s own experiences, will run at Film Forum from Friday, January 20 through Thursday, January 26 (one week). A Janus Film Release.
Lyons, Occupied France, 1943: in a 3 x 2 meter cell in Fort Montluc after an abortive leap from the car taking him there, Lieutenant François Leterrier immediately starts thinking of breaking out. And then begin those moments of chance — or are they acts of Providence? — that are ultimately vital: the surprise care package that arrives just as an announced search is imminent; the friend’s unsuccessful escape attempt that gives him essential information; the unwelcome last-minute roommate in half-German uniform who must be killed or enlisted. And the intense focus on what Eric Rohmer called “the miracle of objects”: the string and sack for communication to the outside; the pin that unlocks the cuffs; the spoon turned into a chisel; the strips of cloth interwoven with wire from the bed supports; the pencil that can mean death. And, in a very quiet film, the orchestration of sounds: Leterrier’s calm voiceovers; the seven interjections of theKyrie from Mozart’s Mass in C Minor; footsteps in the corridors; keys clinking; coded taps on the wall; the rat- tat-tat of execution; the squeak of a guard’s bicycle.
A wartime POW himself, Bresson based his first solo screenplay on the account of an actual escape by André Devigny (who worked closely with him on making the details accurate) and filmed on location at the actual fort, with the cell and corridor built in the studio to the exact specifications, creating a work of both intense mysticism and mortal suspense.
Daily (except Monday): 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45 & 10:00
Monday, January 3: 1:00, 3:15, 5:30 & 9:30
Trailer
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