The world of sound in Bresson's A Man Escaped
(Un Condamne a Mort s'est Echappe).
France, 1956. Directed by Robert Bresson, written by Robert Bresson, based on a memoir by André Devigny. Starring François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche.
In French, 99 minutes. Gaumont; New Yorker Films.

A Man Escaped, Robert Bresson's fourth feature-length film, centers on Fontaine (François Leterrier), a member of the French Resistance, and recounts his escape from a German prison in 1943. Instead of subordinating sound to the image, Bresson enhances it in such a way that the viewer not only sees Fontaine's world but fully hears it as well. His work can be compared to a puzzle made of sounds, images, music and narration. Bresson lets us piece together the elements he lays out for us and construct our own meaning of to story, thus giving the viewer the rare possibility in cinema to be an active spectator.