A Man Escaped is my first ever Robert Bresson film, and what an incredible way to start. I had no idea how literal the title would be here, as this truly is a story about a man trying to escape from start to finish, a work that thrives because of its minimalism rather than in spite of it.

I have no idea what the typical Bresson style is and whether or not this film represents it, but I really appreciated the fact that throughout the entire work the focus stayed nearly primarily on the lead Fontaine besides a brief conversation or two amongst other inmates, but even then he was the basis of their words. Much of the film not…

Listen closely to where the wind blows.

Leading away from existentialistism and more towards more auteur theory, the pick for this week was Bresson’s classic film A Man Escaped. The use of sound in film has always been a favorite of mine, and Bresson is one of cinema’s finest to do so. His use of sound design as well as his minimalist approach to film scores creates a unique atmosphere that sucks you into his films and creates perfect tension as well. This is considered one of - if not - his greatest efforts, so I was very excited to see what was in store for me with this film. Bresson is known for casting non-professional actors in his films,…

A French prisoner being held in Nazi occupied Lyon spends months meticulously preparing to escape with the possibility of discovery never more than a few seconds away..

Based on the real war time experience of a French resistance fighter (Andre Devigny) the film was BAFTA nominated upon its release and its reputation has grown over the decades. It is now considered by many to be Director Robert Bresson's masterpiece.

This is very much a director's film. Bresson used non-actors (he referred to them as 'models') and was notorious for having scenes repeated dozens and dozens of times until it seemed to him the artifice of performance had been eroded. As a result the characters are almost blanks - their backgrounds…

Robert Bresson's prison thriller is a startling reminder that I have a long ways to go when it comes to my film appreciation and analysis. The movie, lacking suspense thanks to the past tense narration of main character Fontaine and the spoiler title didn't do much for me in real time. It was only after I started watching the Criterion Collection supplementary materials for Bresson's declared masterpiece did my interest and fascination for this film grow. Last year I happened to really enjoy a thriller that used sound as its main device for its story telling. This little police thriller "The Guilty" did wonders in building suspense with its use of sound, and much to my ignorance likely is largely…