The Wind Blows Where It Wishes
Metalepsis and the Gospel of John in Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Nicholas J. Schaser in
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Abstract
Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956) adapts its source material to refashion a French prisoner’s historical escape from Nazi captivity into an extended meditation on the Gospel of John. The film’s French title—Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (“One Condemned to Death Has Escaped or The Wind Blows Where It Wishes”)—takes its secondary designation from John 3:8. Bresson’s cinematic presentation creates ellipses in the viewing experience that require broad familiarity with John’s Gospel and encourage the readerly recollection of Johannine material that lies beyond the explicit citations—a poetic-literary device known as metalepsis. This methodology prompts viewers to recover unstated Gospel text and discover Christological figuration throughout the film. Metaleptic engagement with Bresson’s film vis-à-vis John situates A Man Escaped as a restaging of the Gospel story that highlights its protagonist’s ultimate freedom as an expression of Christian salvation.
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The Wind Blows Where It Wishes
Metalepsis and the Gospel of John in Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Nicholas J. Schaser in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956) adapts its source material to refashion a French prisoner’s historical escape from Nazi captivity into an extended meditation on the Gospel of John. The film’s French title—Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (“One Condemned to Death Has Escaped or The Wind Blows Where It Wishes”)—takes its secondary designation from John 3:8. Bresson’s cinematic presentation creates ellipses in the viewing experience that require broad familiarity with John’s Gospel and encourage the readerly recollection of Johannine material that lies beyond the explicit citations—a poetic-literary device known as metalepsis. This methodology prompts viewers to recover unstated Gospel text and discover Christological figuration throughout the film. Metaleptic engagement with Bresson’s film vis-à-vis John situates A Man Escaped as a restaging of the Gospel story that highlights its protagonist’s ultimate freedom as an expression of Christian salvation.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 120 | 120 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 40 | 40 | 0 |
