This film is one that can’t be missed and it’s a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. If you’re looking for a war film to watch that you might not have seen before, look no further than this 1956 hit.
A Man Escaped is based on a memoir by Andre Devigny, who was a member of the French Resistance during WWII and escaped from Nazi-run Montluc prison. The film has been featured on a Rotten Tomatoes list of the best war films of all time alongside Casablanca, Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk.
In the film, a captured French Resistance fighter Lieutenant Fontaine awaits a certain death sentence for espionage in a stark German prison in Lyon, France.
Facing malnutrition and paralyzing fear, he must plot an extraordinary escape, complicated by the questions of whom to trust, and what lies beyond the small portion of the prison they are housed in.
One person who watched the film wrote: “As a realistic, breathtaking, influential and heart-pounding recount of a true POW story, it is a shining triumph.
“Bresson’s style of constantly moving from one relevant event to another and letting images speak while assigning a great importance to silences and facial expressions confirms the truth hidden in the phrase ‘in simplicity lies complexity’.
“Your complaint is that the title sells away the ending, right? Bresson has never cared about the outcomes; instead, his humanity testaments focus on the struggle of life itself given a set of circumstances.
“That’s why he’s misunderstood: not all people have fought in their lives even once. 98/100”
Harsh Mode calls the film “one of the best prison escape movies I’ve ever seen.”
If you’re looking for an entertaining watch that will keep you gripped from start to finish, this film could be the perfect one for you.