A Man Escaped

They key film of Bresson’s influential career, A Man Escaped has been acclaimed as one of the great works of cinema. Based on the true story of Resistance fighter André Devigny, who was imprisoned and sentenced to death by the Nazis during the Second World War, the film reconstructs his actual cell at the Lyons fortress of Montluc, and follows his meticulous plans for escape. This totally involving and thrilling tale of courage and faith is all the more authentic for its use of non-professional actors and Bresson’s spare style. The film’s stunning and spiritually moving denouement, to the accompaniment of Mozart’s sublime Mass in C Minor, succeeds in moving the story to a different plane.