Le Trou (1960)

• Year: 1960
• Released: 14 Feb 1997
• Country: France, Italy
• Adwords: Nominated for 2 BAFTA 2 wins & 4 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054407/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/le_trou
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: French
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Runtime: 131 min
• Writer: José Giovanni, Jacques Becker, Jean Aurel
• Director: Jacques Becker
• Cast: André Bervil, Jean Keraudy, Michel Constantin
• Keywords: prison, neo-noir, escape, tunnel, urination,

8.5/10

Le Trou Storyline

Distrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme.

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Le Trou Movie Reviews

The final hole was a manhole.

Immediate background:Jacques Becker was dying when he filmed “le trou,and he made it his legacy;it’s the tragedy of man caught on the web of life -an admirable metaphor shows two wardens feeding a spider in the undergrounds with a fly-,and anyway unable to escape from the final death.

The first thing to bear is mind is that,calling “le trou” a “prison movie” would be an insult.Although adapted from a Jose Giovanni’s book -Giovanni had been himself in jail for some time and his depictions are as close to reality as can be-,Becker masterfully transcends his subject and gives something definitely new.Some said it was the final link between “la nouvelle vague” and what the highbrows pejoratively -and thoroughly unfairly- call “cinema de qualité” but Becker had predated that overrated new wave by almost ten years :”rendez-vous de juillet” had already almost everything the young Turks would bring later.

First shock is the use of the wide screen,the cinemascope,which Becker had never experimented before;and he achieved the impossible: using this device for a story which takes place ,either in the four walls of a jail,or in the undergrounds and the sewers .The only picture of the outside is seen when the two inmates open a manhole.And the second one is the sound:there’s no music at all,except for the final cast and credits -saving the cast and credits for the end was very rare in the contemporary French cinema -But the soundtrack resembles some kind of musique concrete with its relentless thumps, the whispers and the screams inside the cell,the creaking of the doors ,the waters in the sewer;and the final cacophony -which is not unlike the one which Manliewicz used in “suddenly last Summer” the year before- packs a real wallop.

Another Becker’s tour de force is his description of the prison life:he avoids all the clichés that mar so many “prison movies” (the overpraised “Whatsisname redemption” is no exception):here, the wardens are,most of the time ,kind and friendly,the relationships with the inmates remain polite ,maybe sometimes too much:particularly those between the young man (Marc Michel) and the head warden are almost paternalistic.

Another Becker’s permanent feature comes back to the fore in “le trou” :friendship,solidarity ,which was already present in “rendez-vous de juillet” and “touchez pas au grisbi”.Here it’s pure manly friendship and it seems that a certain misogyny is infiltrating Becker’s world:during the 2 hours + running time of the movie,we only see one young girl (Catherine Spaak) behind a grille,for a very short while.The only positive woman whom we’ ll never see is (naturally) one of the five inmates ‘ s(Michel Constantin) mother(“I almost killed her when I was sent to jail so I do not want to take a chance and try to escape”)

SPOILER:But even this world where five inmates share everything,where their friendship is “more than I ‘ve ever had “(Marc Michel’s character) is collapsing;the first cracks were already here in “rendez-vous de juillet” when some of the young students were giving up on their plans ,to the main hero’s (Daniel Gelin)disappointment.But “touchez pas au grisbi” took friendship over everything including money.”Le trou” reveals the true nature of man,even if the informer seems completely desperate at the end of the movie.The mammoth task they did ,the hole ‘(le trou) is nothing but a cul-de -sac and it epitomizes,in a Hustonian way -we’re closer to Huston than to Godard ,fortunately,the vanity of everything man can do to escape from his fate,and in the case of Becker ,to escape from death.END OF SPOILER

Had Becker ended his career with his three precedent movies (Ali-Baba,Arsène Lupin ,Montparnasse 19),his former masterpieces (Casque d’or,Goupi Main Rouges ,rendez-vous de juillet),could have been tarnished by association.But “Le trou” ,his final masterpiece stands in little danger of bringing this about.

Becker’s Swan Song: Too Good To Be Just Another Prison Movie

Jacques Becker’s swan song is a real gem of a film. Le Trou has such an amazing kinetic rhythm to it that one both feels and forgets the claustrophobic environs. Based on a real story turned into a novel by one of the “escapees”, the film has excellent casting, wonderful (candel-lit!) cinematography and crisp dialog among its other advantages.

The director was terminally ill during the shoot and was to die after making the final cut. Watching this classic now some four decades since auteur’s death, one can only wonder what an artist it would take to demand and achieve such breathtaking perfection in art while combating death at the same time.

Do not let yourself be put off by “yet another prison-movie!” talk. It is too good to be just that. So much so that it could merit comparison with Bresson’s “A Man Escaped”. A very deserving 10 out of 10.

Well made and realistic….but not exactly my cup ‘o tea.

“Le Trou” begins with a new cell mate being moved to a new cell in the prison. Apparently they were doing some work in his cell and he and his cell mates were all split up and moved to new quarters. However, the guys already occupying the room have a secret–they’ve got a reasonably complicated escape plan. At first, they are apprehensive to let him in on the deal but soon realize that they are stuck with him and cannot proceed unless he, too, is part of their plan. The rest of the film consists of a meticulous and slow depiction of their tunnel. If you like heist films that show long and detailed plots, then this one is for you.

Is this ‘the greatest French film’? Probably not. But I could certainly see why Jean Pierre Melville would adore this movie, as its style is so close to his I might have believed he directed it–had I not known that it was actually directed by Jacques Becker. Like so many Melville films, this one excels in the realism department. And, like Melville, it’s about crooks–and the film really focuses on them almost at the exclusion of all else. Now this sort of film does have one inherent problem–if you want to see a film where you can like the characters, then you’ll have a hard time with this one. That’s because the protagonists are all guys doing time in prison–so they are not exactly angels! As for me, I respected the film more than I liked the film. Simply put, I have seen several other prison films I have enjoyed more. Still, it’s well worth seeing—particularly if you like French films, neo-realism (as the actors were real people–including some of the guys involved in the REAL escape about which this film is made) or prison flicks, then you’ll most likely enjoy this film.