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

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Robert Bresson (scenario and dialogue)
André Devigny (memoir)

Release Date:

26 August 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War

Plot:

French Resistance activist Andre Devigny is imprisoned by the Nazis, and devotes his waking hours to planning an elaborate escape...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Nazi | French Resistance | Prison Break | Spoon

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

François Leterrier	...	Fontaine
Charles Le Clainche	...	Jost
Maurice Beerblock	...	Blanchet
Roland Monod	...	Priest of Leiris
Jacques Ertaud	...	Orsini
Jean Paul Delhumeau	...	Hebrard
Roger Treherne	...	Terry
Jean Philippe Delamarre	...	Le Prisonnier 110
César Gattegno	...	Prisoner X
Jacques Oerlemans	...	Chief Warden
Klaus Detlef Grevenhorst	...	L'Officier de L'Abwehr
Leonhard Schmidt	...	Escort Guard
Roger Planchon	...	Guard on a Bike
Max Schöndorff	...	Soldat Allemand

Also Known As:

A Man Escaped (International: English title)
A Man Escaped or: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth (USA) (complete title)
Le vent souffle où il veut (France) (short title)
Apodrasis mellothanaton (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Ein zum Tode Verurteilter ist entflohen (West Germany) [de]
En dödsdömd har rymt (Sweden) [sv]
En dødsdømt flygter (Denmark) [da]
Enas katadikasmenos se thanato edrapetefse (Greece) [el]
Fugiu Um Condenado à Morte (Portugal) [pt]
Ha-Nidon L'Muv'it Barah (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Kuolemaantuomittu on karannut (Finland) [fi]
Rangaistusvanki on karannut eli tuuli puhaltaa siellä missä haluaa (Finland) [fi]
Um Condenado à Morte Escapou (Brazil) [pt]
Un condannato a morte è scappato (Italy) [it]
Un condenado a muerte se ha escapado (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

99 min | Portugal:90 min (censored version)

Country:

France

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | UK:U (1990) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Prison de Montluc, Lyon, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France

Company:

Gaumont

Trivia:

This forms the first of a loose trilogy by Robert Bresson of prison pictures, with the other films being "Pickpocket" and "The Trial of Joan of Arc".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gefängnisbilder (2000)

Soundtrack:

Great Mass in Do Minor, No.16 (K.427) - Agnus Dei

One of the Few Films Which I Can Confidently Call "Perfect"

Pages and pages of film criticism could be, and most likely have been, written about this film, so I will just include my simple wholehearted recommendation, in the hopes that whoever is reading this will seek out "A Man Escaped" immediately. I can think of few films with a simpler premise and plot line than - it really is only about an anonymous man in prison attempting to escape. That's it. Yet, director Robert Bresson, more than any other director I can think of (with the exception of Yasujiro Ozu), can imbue the drab everyday details of life with life-and-death importance. This director could make a movie about a guy tying his shoes into a riveting cinematic experience. His style of film-making is completely unobtrusive and restrained, because he has figured out a simple truth that about 95% of all film directors never realize: the less a director tries to "push" his ideas through a film, ironically, the greater the range of ideas he is able to elicit in his audience. You bring to this movie whatever life experience and ideas you carry with you; an older child as well as an aging philosophy professor can enjoy this film equally, and for very different reasons. In addition, I believe this is also the most realistic film that I have ever seen. It takes the skill of a master to make reality into great cinema, and this film is one of Bresson's greatest. It could even be his greatest, because though his other films "Au Hasard Balthazar" and "Pickpocket" are great masterpieces, they can never have the same kind of accessibility to virtually any living person in the world as this has.