Le Trou (The Hole)

Le Trou is a film based on José Giovanni’s book Le Trou. This movie was filmed in black and white in 1960. It tells the story of how five prison inmates plan to escape.

It opens up with an inmate being moved to a cell with four others planning an escape. The four were very friendly (very French, right?) and take him in immediately. After they feel comfortable with the newbie they inform him about their plan. They will go underground. They dug until they break through to the underground chambers. From there, they made their way to the prison sewers. Then, they dug a tunnel to the main sewers, under the city. They find a manhole to climb out of into the streets of Paris. However, they do not make it out. They got found out.

I believe the prisoner that moved cells was a “plant” sent by the prison director, because one of the inmates in that cell already escaped three times before. He could have told the director about their escape plan.

The five inmates of Le Trou were Roland, Geo, Manu, Vosselin “Monseigneur”, and Claude. Roland was the leader of the group. He was the one that had escaped before and he thought up the escape plan. Geo was the laid back, relaxed guy that just went with the flow. Manu was the tough guy. Monseigneur was the funny guy of the group. Claude was the prisoner that moved cells to the one with Roland, Geo, Manu, and Monseigneur.

Le Trou was a very well made drama. Not only was it about prisoners’ attempt at escape, it was about life in a prison. Throughout the film, difficulties of being in a prison arose. One I liked was that the plumbers stole their cigarettes while they were exercising in the prison yard. When they found out, they called the prison director in and said that the faucet wasn’t fixed just to get their cigarettes back. When the plumbers came, the inmates showed them not to mess with their stuff again. Only, they did it in the French way, with slaps.

I believe that Jacques Becker, the director, did very well adapting this film from the book. Strangely, he died shortly after shooting for Le Trou ended. An interesting thing about him was he used unknowns to play the parts of the main characters. The star actor of Le Trou was basically a non-actor. Jacques Becker took Marc Michel, the star, and made him into an actor.

One thing I noticed was that he used a lot of close-ups. I think that he did that to show the emotions the characters were showing. That is a very good technique and I think it is very French. Le Trou was entered in the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, but didn’t win.

Did you like the film? Why or why not?

Yes, I liked this film because it was entertaining throughout all of it. Many movies have dull spots; Le Trou does not. It was very elaborate, too, which I liked. The movie had many sub-plots and other story-lines involving the inmates. One I remember was that Geo didn’t want to leave because his mother was a nervous wreck. He knew that if he escaped, the police would have went straight to her and would have gotten a heart attack. He wanted to stay to help his mom.

Was the film aesthetically beautiful? If yes, how so? If not, then why not?

I believe Le Trou was beautiful because of the sub-plots. The one mentioned above was beautiful. Another sub-plot was why Claude was sent to prison. He was imprisoned because his wife sued him because she claims he shot her. Claude says that he and his wife were fighting and she pulled a gun on him. While he was trying to take it away from her, it went off and hit her in the shoulder. She won the suit and he was sent to jail. After a couple weeks, Claude’s wife’s sister came and visited him and she said that his wife sobs at night for him. She never wished for him to leave her forever.

How does the film compare to an American film of a similar genre? How it is different?

Le Trou is very similar to an old prison/drama. It contained all the main elements: complex characters, a small cell, and an escape plan. I think an American Le Trou would not have gone too in-depth with the characters. We like to keep things simple. I also think that an American Le Trou would have less than five inmates, maybe three. Us, Americans, want less dialogue between the characters and more action. Fewer characters would do just that. Le Trou reminded me of The Great Escape with Steve McQueen. That movie was about American troops captured in a German camp planning an escape. They dug a tunnel just like in Le Trou.

What does this film show about French culture?

Le Trou showed how polite the French are even in undesirable situations like prisons. The guards and inmates weren’t rude at all like in the American jail movies. The guards were polite and courteous. The prison director was the nicest of them all. Probably because he had the highest paycheck, but that is beside the point. I believe that French culture is all about being courteous towards others.