Le Trou (1960)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Le Trou (1960) – J. Becker

Extremely tense rendering of a prison escape – the title translates to “The Hole” and that is exactly the focus of the film.  Taking his cues from Robert Bresson’s Un Condamné à Mort s'est Échappé (A Man Escaped, 1956), Jacques Becker keeps us focused on the action with close attention to the methodical details of the escape – lots of shots of hands battering away at cement in real time.  Well, not exactly hands but a makeshift hammer fashioned from a bed frame -- ingenuity is a hallmark of the effort.  But unlike Bresson, Becker is also interested in camaraderie among men and the events that build or diminish it (it’s not hard to see why Jean-Pierre Melville cherished Le Trou); the nonprofessional actors he selected (including one real escapee from the true story being told) deliver the goods.  Trust is the key element then, and the introduction of a 5^th man to the cell creates tension beyond even that already present in the form of the ever watchful guards and warden; as that fifth man is in jail for betraying his wife, his trustworthiness is already in doubt.  To reveal any more would be churlish, this set-up should be enough to entice you into the absorbingly intense world of Le Trou.  A masterpiece of the genre.