Le Trou

Le Trou (The Hole), directed and co-written by Jacques Becker, is a flat-out nailbiter: perhaps the best “prison break” movie I’ve ever seen.

La Santé Prison, Paris, 1947. A young man who may or may not be guilty of attempted 1st degree murder, find himself in a new cell. The residents don’t trust him. They’re planning an escape. Will the inmates of the cell work together, or wind up at one another’s throats? Will they overcome the obstacles to escape, or will the sophistication of the prison’s architects be too much for them? Will succumb to chance? Even if they do succeed, what’s the next step in their plan?

The film succeeds because it gives us time to get to know the men in this cell. We know they think they’re doomed if they don’t escape, but the filmmakers wisely refrain from telling us the details of their crimes. All we know is that they seem like nice enough fellows, and they want out. Once we know these people and come to like them, director Becker gives us something that’s essentially a heist movie in reverse. He walks us through the plan, then makes us hang on every step, every detail.

So here we have a film that makes us want to watch men chip at concrete for five minutes at a throw, wondering if this will be the strike that breaks them through or alerts the guards. In fact, Le Trou keeps afloat a wonderful sense of tension throughout, never showing its hand about the final outcome and keeping us on edge right up to the very end. This is a riveting picture, entirely successful and well worth watching. Enjoy.