305. Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth) (1956)
Directed By Robert Bresson
Synopsis
Man is arrested by the Nazis. He makes plans for escape. In the process he trashes his room, I don't think he'll get his deposit back.
Review
This is the first film to establish two universal facts now accepted by the world: A spoon is the essential item for any escape and Nazis are shit at guarding places. Fortunately this is based on a true story, so it is hard to criticised what have since become clichés.
One great thing about the film is its ponderous nature, it is very slow but it keeps you interested all the way. The slowness actually helps you empathise with the character, everything takes time and he does not have much left, the deliberate slowness of it all only makes you more impatient for the character to escape. In this sense Bresson's characteristic slowness helps this film as much as it hindered Journal d'un curé de campagne, which just seemed pretentious.
So it is a pretty good and satisfying film, it is just long enough taking into account how slow it is. It is shot in a great way which also gives you the notion of the loneliness of prison. The use of Mozart's Kyrie of the Mass in C minor when the prisoner gets to meet other human beings is also effective in illustrating how the smallest company is of such great significance in that situation. Nothing else needs to be said between the prisoners, the music says it all.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From wikipedia:
It is based on the memoirs 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" or "pleases" instead of "listeth"). Bresson, like Devigny and the character Fontaine, was imprisoned by Nazis as a member of the French Resistance.
Whole thing on Youtube, here's part 1:
Synopsis
Man is arrested by the Nazis. He makes plans for escape. In the process he trashes his room, I don't think he'll get his deposit back.
Review
This is the first film to establish two universal facts now accepted by the world: A spoon is the essential item for any escape and Nazis are shit at guarding places. Fortunately this is based on a true story, so it is hard to criticised what have since become clichés.
One great thing about the film is its ponderous nature, it is very slow but it keeps you interested all the way. The slowness actually helps you empathise with the character, everything takes time and he does not have much left, the deliberate slowness of it all only makes you more impatient for the character to escape. In this sense Bresson's characteristic slowness helps this film as much as it hindered Journal d'un curé de campagne, which just seemed pretentious.
So it is a pretty good and satisfying film, it is just long enough taking into account how slow it is. It is shot in a great way which also gives you the notion of the loneliness of prison. The use of Mozart's Kyrie of the Mass in C minor when the prisoner gets to meet other human beings is also effective in illustrating how the smallest company is of such great significance in that situation. Nothing else needs to be said between the prisoners, the music says it all.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From wikipedia:
It is based on the memoirs 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" or "pleases" instead of "listeth"). Bresson, like Devigny and the character Fontaine, was imprisoned by Nazis as a member of the French Resistance.
Whole thing on Youtube, here's part 1:
posted by Francisco Silva @ 3:18 AM
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