Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Man Escaped (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)
A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring:  François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Duration: 99 min.
Rating: 8.8/10

Summary:
A French Resistance activistis imprisoned by the Nazis, and devotes his waking hours to planning an elaborate escape. Then on the day that he is condemned to death, he is given a new cellmate.  Should he kill him, or risk revealing his plans to someone who may be a Gestapo informer?


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A Man Escaped by Robert Bresson, is based on the memoirs of French WWII prisoner of war Andre Devigny.  It is an amazingly effective drama about a prison escape.  Very minimal in execution, much of the film takes place in silence, interrupted only occasionally by brief dialog, and sounds happening off screen.

Just as in Diary of a Country Priest, the film is told primarily through the character narrating his thoughts.  But as a contrast, this film contains almost no character development and focuses entirely on the plot.  Also the only music heard are two Mozart pieces that are used very sparingly throughout the film.

Despite the simplicity, and the fact that the title of the film is virtually a spoiler, this remains a gripping and intense picture right to the end.  With Bresson's incredible direction, we are shown the detached visuals of a movie but made to feel like we are watching a documentary.     

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)
         
This blog has 200 posts!!!

So it's been just a little over 6 months and I've made it to post #200.  The blog is steadily growing and is currently getting around 200 page views a day.  Still quite small, but more than I ever expected when I started this thing.  I think at this rate it should hit 25,000 before the end of the month.  Also, I noticed today that when you Google search for Bonjour Tristesse, it comes up on the first page of results, pretty cool. 

To celebrate this milestone, and as an expression of gratitude and appreciation to my loyal readers, I'd like to highlight some of my favorite follower's blogs.  Go and check them out!

Presented here in no particular order:
  • Movie Monstrosity Blog - A slick film and pop culture blog, primarily featuring news on upcoming Hollywood blockbusters, but has on several occasions introduced me to cool Belgian films and musicians that I would have never heard of.
  • Jack L. film reviews - A quality film diary from an aspiring director who writes knowledgeable reviews and has some really excellent and thorough articles covering the oeuvres of several important directors.  Serving as the inspiration for my current series of posts.
  • The Angry Lurker - A popular blog by an avid collector of war gaming miniatures, and sometime movie reviewer whose fun posts are never short on detailed images or clever comments from the peanut gallery.
  • Rorschach Redemption - A truly awesome interactive blog that posts inkblots and asks readers to submit their own hand drawn interpretations for everyone to mock and admire.  As one would expect, they get some really weird and interesting entries.
  • Stars and Stripes - A witty personal blog run by Ada, a skilled writer who often has some very entertaining and insightful opinions as well as funny and fascinating anecdotes to share.
  • Virginie's Cinema - The highly inspirational photo diary of a stylish and glamorous, young and upcoming French Canadian independent film producer.  
  • Photographic Rambles -  A cool photo blog by a talented photographer who specializes in urban outdoor shots and some very fascinating close ups.
  • Beasts in Human Skin - An outstanding cult film blog, with reviews of grindhouse and exploitation classics and obscurities.  Where every movie receives a rating for violence and a rating for boobies.
  • A Smile per Day - An uplifting blog dedicated to bringing you smiles, with various inspirational and motivational images and video clips.
  • A Vegetarian Mind - An enjoyable photo blog that does an excellent running feature titled Animal of the Day, presenting random encounters with critters and creatures of every persuasion. 
Thanks Everyone!  

5 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

Congratulations on the 200 followers and thank you for the mention.

Beasts in Human Skin said...

No, thank you for the posts! And also thanks for this list of blogs. I wasn't aware of some and I'm going to check them out.

Jack L said...

Wow, you flatter me :) Thanks, I'm honoured by your kind words!

Congratulations, your blog is excellent, I love he fact that you post about a different film every day, I would never of heard about some of these films if it wasn't for you!

Keep up the great work, and I'll keep checking it out every day :)

Hermann Rorschach said...

200? My lord. While I have a hard time finding a lot of the movies you highlight, I have yet to be disappointed by your accurate descriptions and recommendations. Having seen a lot of the slop that mainstream American cinema is throwing at us (CURSE YOU, makers of Green Hornet!) your constant stream of suggestions is a welcome load of information.

Please do 200 more! And thanks for the delightful description of the crazy people that are known as bloggers.

Biff Tanner said...

This looks like a good one ill have to see if i can find it.

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