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Le trou

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In a Paris prison cell, five inmates use every ounce of their tenacity and ingenuity in an elaborate attempt to tunnel to freedom. Based on the novel by José Giovanni, Jacques Becker's Le trou (The Hole) balances lyrical humanism with a tense, unshakable air of imminent danger.

Special Features

- New digital transfer, enhanced for 16x9 televisions
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Reprinted excerpts from the 1964 U.S. pressbook
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

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Nihonophile wrote:I wasn't familiar with Becker but since two more of his movies are being released by criterion I thought I'd give this one a shot.

This movie created a great mystery about the various problems in Gaspard's life. Who is he, who cares about him, did his wife recover, was she considering dropping the charges? It is Gaspard, the formerly rich man, the man who made so many mistakes in the past who trusts his captor. In spite of this Monseigneur has the last words, word of forgiveness. A really touching movie.

Watched this again and it just gets better: Becker's far too good to be at the mercy of mere plot surprises, so no matter how many times I see the film it works like crazy. What I find hypnotic and compelling about Le Trou is Becker's attention to the details of physical activity, not just in the celebrated extended shots of the men executing their escape (when will modern filmmakers realise that you can often create more tension by not cutting away?), but in all of the little rituals that make up their lives (the passing of a message from Cell 8 to Cell 4; the methodical hacking up of each prisoner's food package; the lighting and dousing of the inkpot flame).

It was a very interesting film, less to do with the breakout than the social dynamics of the way a group of people interact in the prison environment and what happens to a person who breaks from the group, as Gaspard does. In the film a lot of time is spent on the group of prisoners enjoying each others company and bonding, and I think this sort of behaviour is the sort that prisons would encourage in order to socialise prisoners and keep them occupied. In the same way that folding the boxes is meant to give them a legitimate shared task so the tunnel becomes a group project, important as much for being some worthwhile and purposeful activity that everyone can play their part in than just for the final goal of escape from the prison (I think my favourite scene is the brief glimpse of the, slightly frightening, outside world one of the characters scoping out the escape route gets before he returns to the cell).

With the betrayal of the escape plan by Gaspard the prison has to act to prevent the escape but risks causing a riot when the other prisoners see what has happened. So I guess by showing Gaspard to his fellow cellmates and the rest of the prisoners the prison guards are focusing the hatred onto one person and "one of their own" at that, and therefore away from the prison itself. I would guess that a prisoner while not liking the guards would not hold any personal grudge against them for just doing their job, but Gaspard at the end finds himself in a difficult position of being seen as a prisoner by the guards and as an informer by the prisoners, not part of either group which might make the rest of his stay a difficult one (especially as mentioned above if the offer of a reprieve was simply part of a plan to get him to inform). It works as a wonderful companion to Bresson's A Man Escaped in the focus on minutae to create fascination and tension in the audience, although they are quite different films in their tone - Le Trou feels a little more grounded and 'realist' in a way compared to the more transcendent feel to the Bresson.

It was interesting to watch the film after seeing a couple of television programmes on the Stanford prison experiment that sheds light on how people are socialised to accept certain roles (after all if all the prisoners decided to rebel against the guards it would be difficult to contain them, so there is some element of acceptance of the rules on the prisoners part). The Stanford Prison Experiment from the 1970's is here (news), and this link and this, are to the BBC recreation of the experiment in 2002.

peerpee wrote:Not that stupid

I walk past that place quite a lot, so am quite pleased to discover that some Becker-esque activity has been taking place inside. The building is rather dilapidated (they picked a good photo), so I don't blame the guy for having a crack.

Loved it. I felt a little unclear on the vagaries of the French justice system, but that's beside the point. Becker's use and presentation of space is wonderful, and I especially enjoyed the way the social dynamics played out at times without words. My fave shots were of Roland and Manu disappearing down the tunnel, where the only light was provided by the burning inkpot. For my money, Jacques Becker is definitely one of the more underrated directors in the collection.

Le Trou is one of those barebones little releases that are a joy to pull out-- the film is just pretty much perfect.

God DAMN!! this flick is a freakin masterpiece! why i let it sit in my kevyip for two years is hard to fathom. good grief I can be stupid sometimes. The scenes where Manu and Roland are going down the tunnels with only the small flame as lighting are some of the creepiest images ever put to film. I could just feel that tunnel...the dankness of it all...just incredibly tense from the moment they begin digging.

It's crazy how simple the film all seems, yet I kept noticing subtle nuances that were adding so much depth to the unspoken communication between the men...a glance here, a slight nod of the head there. But I guess that's why Becker was a master...despite the seemingly simplistic or even drab setting, the composition and angles of every shot were set to stun and I was on the edge of my seat for about 115 minutes. Now I need to go out and get Touchez Pas au Grisbi one of these days!

I guess it's not worth complaining about, but It's hard to understand why such a great film is utterly and completely bare bones. not even a trailer. I suppose this would have joined Gervaise and Mayerling et al in the EAH line had it existed then. no matter though....I'm just glad I have it at all...but i wanted MORE - especially considering some of the men were part of the actual escape during the war, as well as the author of the subsequent novelization and Becker's screenwriter.....seems like they must have been interviewed at some point. That disc is just begging for more from them....but oh well....so it goes.

It's a wonderful film indeed-- Grisbi is extremely fabulous (with tippy top art direction) but I would say, as far as my tastes go and in terms of technical accomplishment, that Le Trou is the better film of the two... thus--strictly my opinion, of course-- it's a shame that Trou is barebones while Grisbi has a number of extras attached to its CC edition. I like some of those late(r) performances from Gabin (another highly favored one on my end is Ici... temps des assassins) there's a quality about him--difficult for me to render in words-- that increased its Farenheit as he got a little older, and it really shows in these films.

HistoryProf wrote:God DAMN!! this flick is a freakin masterpiece!

When you're right, you're right.

I bow to nobody in my adoration of Grisbi, but I'm with Schreck re. this film. Maybe one of the most underrated films in the collection.

Yes, shame about the lack of extras but the liner notes, with the press materials excerpt, are pretty good though. This is one of my most re-watched Criterions, but Grisbi is sitting on my shelf having been watched only once in the (however many) years (since its release) that it's been up there. I bought all the Becker movies I could get my hands on after watching Le Trou, but none has really matched it.

This film is so wonderful that I wish that I could go to prison just so I could escape in a similarly cool and audacious manner.

Going Out of Print by the End of March.

Does anyone know how the Optimum dvd compares?
I know both are barebones but is the PQ the same?

Peacock wrote:Does anyone know how the Optimum dvd compares?
I know both are barebones but is the PQ the same?

Peacock, I ordered yesterday the Optimum dvd; I'll post some screens when it arrives.

I'd double-check that the Optimum is anamorphic first if I were you.

HistoryProf wrote:yet I kept noticing subtle nuances that were adding so much depth to the unspoken communication between the men...a glance here, a slight nod of the head there.

This is where the film excels for me. The way that these men communicate with each. Despite their differences the men operate as a single being.

The casting is terrific. These guys had little acting experience but they all manage to have charisma and/or easy charm as opposed to the flatness that can happen with non-professional actors.

Raymond Meunier (Monseigneur) is the stand out. Can't believe that his cv ended up being so thin.

DVD Beaver for the IVC Released, Studio Canal produced blu ray is here.

Gary says there is some EE and DNR, but quite frankly, does it seem at least a bit to resemble the Earrings of Madame de... debacle, or is it just me? Look at the close-up of them around the hourglass. The guy's face on the far right absolutely looks like it's been photoshop-blurry-tooled.

Glad I still have the still good looking Criterion dvd.

It's just not so good anyway. It looks heavily filtered and if Gary's caps are accurate, you can even spot either aliasing or combing.

I have this Blu-Ray in my collection, and it is not great but still okay. There are better-looking Blu-Rays and worse-looking Blu-Rays, it's somewhere in the middle of the line. In motion, I'd say it looks way better than the Criterion at times.

Anyone else think this film is a coded homo fuckfest? Muscly dudes, two of whom are obviously in love, with the newbie adjusting to the erotic friendship surrounding him. I got the distinct impression that the

Spoiler

guy who betrays them at the end committed the double sin of rejecting his gay brothers on top of sabotaging their plan.

Not to mention all the metaphorical pounding, pounding, pounding. It's not just me, is it?

The politically correct term is "gay fuckfest"

A cigar is sometimes just a cigar.

Svevan wrote:Not to mention all the metaphorical pounding, pounding, pounding. It's not just me, is it?

Let me see your hands. Just as I thought—never worked a day in your life.

Does my manicure give it away?