Screening

About A Man Escaped

A man. A prison. An escape. In Robert Bresson’s hands, this simple premise is transformed into one of cinema’s most captivating and taught jailbreak films. Inspired by an actual WWII prison break by decorated French lieutenant André Devigny from a German-occupied prison in Lyon, A Man Escaped charts the daily existence of Fontaine (François Leterrier), a French Resistance leader, in his methodical and fraught attempt to escape. Bresson’s increasingly rigorous focus on straightforward action over sentiment and melodrama, combined with his preference for non-professional actors, strips away any pretense as it reveals his stark and magnificent cinematic philosophy. [101 min; drama, thriller; French with English subtitles]

"Both the most realistic and the most poetic of jailbreak films." — Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

"Bresson's masterpiece is still a pinnacle in French cinema." — David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

"The best of all prison-escape movies, it reconstructs the very notion of freedom through offscreen sounds and defines salvation in terms of painstakingly patient and meticulous effort." — Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.