A Man Escaped
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
A brave Frenchman named Fontaine is locked in a Nazi prison during World War II. He works slowly and quietly, day after day, to find a way out, and he must decide whether to trust another prisoner. This quiet movie in French shows that patience, hope and God's help go together. Bresson gave the film a second title from John 3, The Wind Blows Where It Wills. That tells you how to watch it. Fontaine does all the work with his own hands, and still the escape depends on help he did not plan. Greydanus calls it a film about grace and providence as much as walls and bars, and the easiest way into Bresson. Torture and killings happen off screen. Subtitled.
For parents
Not rated. No Catholic classification was retrieved. Greydanus says Teens & Up, and Lumen agrees. There is constant tension, and prisoners are tortured and shot off screen. Things to frame: the film is quiet and has no music-driven thrills, so tell teens ahead of time what kind of film it is. Read John 3:1 to 8 together first. Ask: Fontaine works as if everything depended on him. Where does help come that he could not have arranged? Another prisoner says God will save them, and Fontaine answers that we must also act. Who is right, and how does the Church hold grace and our effort together (CCC 2008)? Why does he risk trusting the boy put in his cell? What would despair have looked like in that cell?