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LE TROU
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Michel Constantin, Jean Keraudy, Philippe Leroy, Raymond Meunier, Mark
Michel
Director: Jacques Becker
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Studio: Criterion
Features: None
Length: 131 Minutes
Release Date: October 16, 2001
I’ve
always enjoyed prison break movies, from the exciting The Great Escape to
the tense Escape From Alcatraz, but one film I wasn’t familiar with nor
had seen before was Jacques Becker’s last film, the 1960 French release Le
Trou (The Hole). If you are
like me in those regards, you’re in for a treat.
This
is by far the best of the escape movies. It
doesn’t deal so much with characters as individuals as it does with them as a
group…who is in it and who is out? The
film is about the methodology of the prison break, exacting and meticulous, down
to showing the beginning of the five cellmates breaking up the concrete floor in
their cell in real time. What we
see on screen is often no more or less than what we see happening.
One man gets tired, he hands his tool to the next man…no cuts or
cheats, in a four minute long unbroken take.
The
team of plotters was originally four, until a fifth man, Gaspard (Michel) is
brought in because of repairs being done to his cell. This is the very beginning of the film, and we learn that the
others, who have formed a tight circle of trust, must size up this new young man
and decide whether or not to let him in on what they’re about to attempt.
They do, on the basis of the fact that Gaspard’s particular crime could
very well net him 20 years…too long for anybody to just quietly wait out his
sentence.
Before
the escape plans can get underway, there is a crucial scene where the men’s
cell is randomly searched (echoing an earlier one where a guard unceremoniously
but efficiently destroys incoming food to check for contraband).
The check is thorough, down to emptying the contents of cabinets and
tapping the bars on the window to make sure they’re sound.
It immediately creates doubt…how will these men carry out their plan
under such tight scrutiny?
The
unfolding of their plans is something I wouldn’t dream of giving away, even in
the smallest detail, because witnessing the gradual unfolding of the events is
one of the movie’s great pleasures. It
is suffice to point out two facts: one,
a prison escape requires two symbiotic actions at the same time, which are
foraging the path towards freedom and covering up one’s every move at the same
time…a single trace that gives away what you’re working on would be fatal.
Second, the act itself is long and consuming…for many reasons, it
requires accurate timing and plenty of patience.
Most
of Becker’s film is about the time it takes.
The actions, given their nature and the environment in which they occur,
are enough to build suspense naturally, as well as sustain it over long periods
of time. These are smart,
calculating men, led by Roland (Keraudy), the mastermind who has plotted escapes
before and is now faced with one of his biggest challenges.
Adding
to the natural tension is Becker’s terrific sense of style.
Black and white was the right choice for this kind of film, as everything
we see is simply a pattern of light and shadow.
The restrictions of light in certain scenes add to the sense of
claustrophobia, which Becker also accents by bringing us uncomfortably close to
his subjects from time to time. Other
times, he does the opposite, leaving his camera still while his men walk away
from it down a long dark tunnel. The
light grows fainter and fainter with them, until the screen is completely black.
Equally
important as the visuals are the sounds. In
a plot such as this, noises are crucial, and silence can be deafening.
The initial break through the floor is an all out audio assault, again
making us wonder how they will ever pull off this feat if the most crucial steps
require obscene amounts of noise!
But
I’m overplaying the technical aspects. The
film is superb entertainment from start to finish.
It takes no time at all in drawing us into the world of these characters
and making us understand their dimensions and dynamics, as well as what’s at
stake. From the opening moments on,
we are deeply involved with the outcome of their story.
As an aside, I liked the touch that the film never once defined good guys
or bad guys. There are prisoners
and cops, but unlike other prison movies, there is no role reversal as to who we
deem right and wrong, and there are no brutal security guards for us to hate or
any of those tired clichés. Even
the warden is a decent and sensible guy.
The
conflict therefore does not hinge on moral foci, but simply on the events and
actions at hands. If we root for
the prisoners, it’s not because our hearts hang in the balance with them.
We simply want to see their work and patient dedication pay off.
For
all of these reasons, Le Trou merits the title of the best of all prison
escape movies. What it lacks in
spectacle or moral conflict, it more than makes up for with a taut, singular
direction and the completely absorbing quality of the methodology of its plot.
It also boasts arguably the sub-genre’s best ending!
BONUS TRIVIA: The film is based on a true story, and actor Jean Keraudy was an actual participant in the events. He introduces the film to us from the auto garage where he worked at the time and verifies that the story is indeed real.
Sadly,
Jacques Becker died of a heart attack two weeks after the film’s completion.
Video
***1/2
This
is an outstanding anamorphic transfer from Criterion, actually framed closer to
1.78:1 than the advertised 1.66:1 (all the better, I think).
The print quality is remarkable, as is the stellar presentation of the
black and white images. We see the full range as lights turn to shadows and vice
versa…every shade of gray is distinct, with clean whites and deep blacks.
The level of detail is astounding, as well.
The opening shots, which feature an expansive townscape, are clear from
the foreground to the background. Apart
from an occasional scratch here or flicker there, this is a near reference
quality DVD offering.
Audio
***1/2
For
a single channel mono track, this is as good as it gets.
I mentioned how important sound was to the movie, and the audio on this
DVD delivers, with full dynamic range from painful silences to the droning
noises that overtake certain scenes, to the sounds that become familiar and
rhythmic such as the turning of the locks on the doors, the footsteps in the
tunnels, or the impact of the men’s blunt tools on walls and floors.
There is no music until the very end (a nice dramatic touch), but the
track is plenty busy without it. Very
high marks!
Features
(zero stars)
There
are no extra features on the disc, but there is an included booklet with
reprinted excerpts from the 1964 U.S. press book.
Summary: