[yasr_overall_rating]
In prison four long-sentence inmates planning an elaborate escape cautiously induct a new inmate to join in their scheme which leads to distrust and uncertainty.
The French have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to filmmaking. Jacques Becker’s 58-Year-Old “Le Trou” (translated as “The Hole”), now restored in crisp 4K restoration and presented by Rialto Pictures, serves as another example of a film that was well ahead of its time, and is as riveting today as it must have been almost six decades ago. Its laser focus on the minutiae of the prison break itself, its refusal to delve deep into character backgrounds, its long takes (one lasts almost four minutes; take that Mr. Iñárritu!) and lack of score form a minimalistic approach that heightens the suspense and propels the story along. Though quite different in style, the Coen Brothers’ “No Country for Old Men” is similarly scaled-back, focusing on the age-old battle of good vs. evil, the film’s vast, painterly canvas rendering its relatively straightforward proceedings grand and epic. The bros must have studied “Le Trou”, for a similar effect is achieved here – on a tight, claustrophobic canvas – a tale of morals and ethics, of loyalty and perseverance, told with clenched-teeth determination – a gargantuan world revealed through the tiniest of peepholes.
In jail for alleged attempted premeditated murder (that’s a mouthful!) of his wife, Claude (Marc Michel), a good-looking fellow in his late-20’s, joins four inmates in a tiny cell. They are: Manu (Philippe Leroy), the dashing leader, Vossellin (Raymond Meunier), the gentle, welcoming one in the bunch; Roland (Jean Keraudy), the expert who has “pulled off three breakouts”, and the gruff, grumpy Geo (Michel Constantin), who instantly interrogates the newcomer about his sex life. Stuffed in the cell like sardines in a can, marinating in their own testosterone, the gang bickers, bonds and gets excited about inedible soup; they piss next to their dining friends and perform monotonous errands like folding thousands of boxes… Those errands, in fact, conceal their Grand Escape Plan. After a little consideration, Manu’s crew decides to involve the new guy, and a highly detailed and nail-biting breakout follows, culminating in a heartrending final revelation.
Becker was a master at establishing characters, their dynamics, and surroundings, and in “Le Trou” he excels at revealing a lot – about our protagonists, the prison, their plan – by actually saying very little. His camera, like a curious observer, shows just the right thing at the right time, never letting go of the audience’s immersion. And yes, it’s an adventure that requires patience, similarly to that of its scheming protagonists. This isn’t a thrill-a-second ride, but rather a meticulously detailed study of what it would really be like, built on close calls and prolonged sequences of intensity. The characters’ guilt or innocence – save for Claude’s, perhaps – is beyond the point. “Le Trou” is solely about the escape. I wouldn’t be surprised if the makers of such classics as “The Great Escape”, “Papillon”, “Escape From Alcatraz”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Green Mile” and even the ongoing Netflix series “Orange Is The New Black”, used “Le Trou” as a blueprint for how this stuff is done.
To list all the highlights in a film that happens to be one of the shining beacons in our vast cinematic world would be impossible, but here are a few standouts. A guard slices through salami and butter, inspecting it for contraband, in a weirdly queasy sequence. Our gang eats in silence for a good minute, a moment of bonding, where one can almost taste how delicious their simple food must be. Two of our “heroes” loudly cut through a bar and consequently hide from a couple of chatty guards – just to discover they have to dig another tunnel in the sewers. There is the ingenious invention of a sand-clock, an assault on thieving plumbers, and a rubble avalanche that traps one of our heroes.
Guards have become more brutal, plots increasingly complex, and prisons more advanced (and certainly less stylish) – yet filmmaking has never improved upon the standards established by Jacques Becker and his peers. Don’t let the black-and-white photography, gorgeous in its stark contrasts, or the subtitled dialogue, sharper and more eloquent than anything coming out of Sam Jackson’s mouth these days, stop you. “Le Trou” is Le Real Deal.
In select theaters in Los Angeles September 1st
