Le trou (1960)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Jacques Becker

Writers:

José Giovanni (novel)
Jacques Becker (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Lover | Prison | Death In Childbirth | Hunger Strike | Escape

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Michel Constantin	...	Geo Cassine
Jean Keraudy	...	Roland Darbant
Philippe Leroy	...	Manu Borelli
Raymond Meunier	...	Vossellin / Monseigneur
Marc Michel	...	Claude Gaspard (as Mark Michel)
Jean-Paul Coquelin	...	Le lieutenant Grinval (as J. Paul Coquelin)
André Bervil	...	Le directeur
Eddy Rasimi	...	Bouboule
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Becker	...	Un gardien (uncredited)
Philippe Dumat	...	(uncredited)
Gérard Hernandez	...	Le détenu à l'infirmerie (uncredited)
Jean Luisi	...	(uncredited)
Paul Pavel	...	(uncredited)
Paul Préboist	...	Un gardien (uncredited)
Catherine Spaak	...	Nicole (uncredited)
Dominique Zardi	...	Le détenu qui assiste le gardien à la fouille (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Becker

Writing credits
José Giovanni		(novel)
Jacques Becker		(adaptation) and
José Giovanni		(adaptation) and
Jean Aurel		(adaptation)
Jacques Becker		(dialogue) and
José Giovanni		(dialogue)

Produced by
Georges Charlot	....	executive producer
Jean Mottet	....	executive producer
Serge Silberman	....	producer

Original Music by
Philippe Arthuys

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet

Film Editing by
Marguerite Renoir
Geneviève Vaury

Production Design by
Rino Mondellini

Production Management
Paul Laffargue	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean Becker	....	assistant director

Art Department
Paul Moreau	....	assistant decorator
Jean Taillandier	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Jean Bareille	....	sound assistant
Pierre-Louis Calvet	....	sound engineer (as Pierre Calvet)
Maurice Dagonneau	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Gilbert Chain	....	assistant camera
Jean Chiabaut	....	assistant camera
François Lauliac	....	assistant camera
Henry Thibault	....	still photographer

Other crew
Sophie Cloquet	....	script supervisor
Jacqueline Dudilleux	....	administrator
Odette Laeupplée	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Filmsonor
• Play Art
• Titanus

Distributors

• Cinédis
• Consort-Orion Films (1964) (USA) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Jerand Film Distributors (1965) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Il buco (Italy)
The Hole
The Night Watch (USA)
A Um Passo da Liberdade (Brazil) [pt]
Das Loch (West Germany) [de]
L'evasió (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
La evasión (Spain) [es]
O Buraco (Portugal) [pt]
Tunneli (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

132 min | West Germany:121 min (1984 restored version)

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | West Germany:16

Company:

Filmsonor

Trivia:

Becker died two weeks after completing the film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mon père, il m'a sauvé la vie (2001)

The greatest film about prison life

Le Trou played on TV the other night, and thus gives me a chance to evaluate it after 20 years or so. The direction is magnificent: Becker was a genius at refining the elements of the story down to a bare minimum. Space is used well; the close-ups of men banging on concrete with improvised tools in a cramped space are very effective, they look like burrowing animals. Ghislain Cloquet was a master of black-and-white camerawork; he shot Mouchette and Au hasard, Balthazar for Bresson, Nuit et brouillard for Resnais, Le Feu follet for Malle, all great films made greater by Cloquet's work.

The endless dull routine enlivened by subterfuge--stealing materials needed for digging and making puppets to stand in for sleeping prisoners is brilliantly captured. If the prisoners are bored, so are the staff--the warden is desperate for some conversation with Gaspard, or with anybody. Geo's problem is a little hard to understand, I thought he'd want to go through with the plan. Otherwise I rate it very highly indeed.