353. Le Trou

Le Trou
The Hole
1959
Directed by Jacques Becker

The prison films on the list have been absolutely incredible and this one is no exception.  In fact, I think I have found a new favorite (sorry Shawshank).

Four prison inmates who are at best facing life in prison plan to escape.  However, the a new prisoner joins their barracks.  They must now decide whether they can trust them or trust each other.

This movie is so amazing that there is absolutely no way I will be able to do it justice in a short blog post.  Therefore, I will simply gush incoherently for a little bit and hope people will be persuaded to watching this movie.

First of all, because it's a prison film, each character has an interesting back story.  But it is Becker's use of dialogue and plot development that really make the characters come to life.  He achieves the perfect balance; we are never given too much information at once or frustrated by how little character history we are given.

Add to that an absolutely thrilling plot; I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time.  Part of my love comes from the satisfying ending but, like I always say, there are no spoilers here.

There are really not enough good things I can say about this movie so I will just end here.  A must see.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Based on a true story and one of the actors was actually involved in the 1947 prison escape attempt.

Jacques Becker's last film.