GRADE: 10
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.
Director: Jacques Becker
Country: France | Italy
THOUGHTS:
As Rififi is a detailed, how-to on pulling off a heist, Le Trou is a meticulous manual on escaping from prison. Becker takes all the time he wants showing us how its done, but even the most focused sequences of men hammering walls are suffused with the greater tension of the story. The film’s explores relationships and themes that have become commonplace in prison break films: loyalty, trust, friendship, camaraderie, and betrayal. Yet even though these ideas could be experienced as tropes, instead they feel fresh, complex and truer than they do in the multitudes of films that have cropped up in its wake. Becker’s direction is laser sharp, and the cast is superb. A true classic.