Bresson's most gripping and moving work narrates the story of an escape
attempt from a Gestapo prison, and achieves a degree of emotional
involvement with its hero's predicament that most filmmakers never
dream of. For much of the movie, the protagonist (Leterrier,
outstanding) is alone, and Bresson dwells with intense scrutiny on his
preparations for flight, drawing a breathtaking tension from tiny
sounds and telling visual details. Finally, however, that isolation
is broken, and the film reaches its crux in a revelation of the need for
mutual trust and human contact. The climactic escape attempt is
genuinely cathartic, and the final moments are almost unbearably
affecting.
