Master of Suspense

Susan Sontag wrote that Robert Bresson’s films are devoid of suspense, pointing out that A Man Escaped gives away the ending in the title.  But that’s just the very nature of suspense.  We know the ending.  But how do we get there?  A Man Escaped is most suspenseful precisely because we know the ending.  Instead of wondering about what’s going to happen, we focus on the agony of action.  All of the planning of the escape that Fontaine does is one thing: actually doing it is quite another.  An abyss opens up—freedom—that also carries with it the threat of instant pain and death.  Not to leap into the abyss is to insure your death anyway, though more slowly—measured by someone else.  This is the most terrifying moment of the film, watching Fontaine in stasis as he wrestles with his fear and decides whether or not to act.