Any thoughts on the Ending?

No, we don't. And we don't know if, in the beginning of the film, the prison director put Gaspard in that very cell with the others on purpose. I had the feeling that he did. You know, Roland was a known escape artist. Very clever. They always frisked his cell, and never found anything. Maybe putting an (involuntary) "spy" in their cell was the only way to defeat his plan.

I loved everything but the ending. (spoiler alert) To me it made no sense. Gaspard must have betrayed them--how else would the guards have known exactly when the escape was to take place, and why else would Gaspard not be stripped and put in solitary along with others? But what exactly would Gaspard have had to gain by betraying his mates anyway? If it really was, as the warden says, simply up to the magistrate to drop the charges (after Gaspard's wife withdrew her complaint), what could the warden possibly have had to offer Gaspard that would make the betrayal worth it? I can only think that the warden suspected something, must have suspected something, and warned Gaspard that he could end up back in prison on charges of abetting an escape.

But then, if he did betray his mates, why not storm the cell right away rather than that night? Why send Gaspard back to the cell at all, only to transfer him later once the cell had been stormed? Loved the movie, felt a little cheated by the ending.

Gaspard may not have told. The plumbers, for example, have reason to speak- for revenge- and had the chance to find out. The senior guard, who started searching the cell and then left, is another who may have known: did he notice something in peoples' attitudes or find something in the pile of cardboard? There'sJoe, whose concern for his mother is so great that he won't take part- there are a lot of potential informants. From the prison commander's point of view, it's better if no-one knows how they learned or if they blame someone other than the real informant.
On the other hand there is more against Gaspard: he has seduced his sister-in-law, but he mentions that the maid hates him- one womders why- and there is no reason to believe his own account of the shooting- after all, he's a second-hand car salesman, not a set of people famous for their veracity.

One thing that really surprises me in all these discussions regarding the hidden agendas of the parties involved (i.e. what did the wardens know, what did the inmates know, etc.), is that it should be stupendously obvious that if prison wardens had any, even slightest suspicion that the inmates in that cell were attempting to break out, they would've simply raided the cell, turned every stone in it, and discovered the hole in the floor. I mean, how difficult would it be to look for holes in that tiny cell? The inmates really had no other choice, they had to go out through some sort of an opening, a hole, they couldn't be working on some sci-fi teleporting mechanism, right?

In the light of this, all the talks about how the prison authorities may have planted Gaspard in the hopes that he will crumble and rat on his inmates are totally misguided. We're not talking foreign espionage here -- the inmates are always, 24 hours a day, at the mercy of the authorities, who can preemptively examine every inch of their cell.

So definitely, Gaspard was not planted as a weak link.

He was, nevertheless, a victim of intricate 'head games' that authorities in that position must unavoidably play. Managing a large prison is not for the faint hearted, and the wardens and their chiefs are, out of necessity, a nasty bunch. They are forced to play cat-and-mouse with the inmates, to attempt to pit one against the other. Thus it should come as no surprise that the prison director came up with a make-believe story for Gaspard -- how his wife withdraw the charges, just to see Gaspard's reaction. I'm sure the director's been playing similar head games with many other prisoners, in order to break their spirit by giving them false hope. Cruel, yes, but perhaps necessary given the harsh conditions of dealing with heavy criminals.

What made the prison director pick Gaspard for that psychological experiment? Why, the fact that it was reported that Gaspard had made the wrong turn after the visitation, and attempted to return to his previous cell. That little faux pais, or gaffe, alerted the authorities that there was something weighing on Gaspard's conscious, and that he seem to be distraught and could be involved in something out of the ordinary. Immediately, they acted upon that hunch. And their hunch proved to be correct.

My take is that what's been portrayed in this movie is a freakish coincidence that the prison director had started toying with Gaspard on the very day they were ready to escape. He managed to break Gaspard's spirit by giving him a false hope and thus making him 'sing'. Gaspard couldn't stand the idea of being so close to getting exonerated and then destroying his real freedom by escaping from the prison and being hunted down by the law as a fugitive. Consequently, he ratted on the whole plan.

The evidence that Gaspard betratyed his mates is offered in the movie -- remember the scene when the covert warden force was shown to have been hiding underground, waiting for the inmates to attempt to escape. One warden was shown climbing up from the hole, while informing the others below to return using an easier route. It is obvious that Gaspard spent 2 hours with the prison wardens showing them the planned route underground, after which he was returned to his cell.

Why was he returned to his cell? Simple -- the prison wardens had to buy some time and regroup and organize the ambush, to make sure they catch the prisoners in case they, in desperation, decide to run for it sooner than was originally planned.

Poor Gaspard bought the phony director's story hook, line and sinker; of course there wasn't any withdrawal of charges from his wife, and after their escape operation got busted, Gaspard was transferred to the solitary confinement, his sentence now looking even bleaker. Plus, as a demonstrated informant, his life got seriously endangered, as other prisoners do not look kindly upon such rats. That's why Roland uttered "Poor Gaspard" -- feeling sorry for this man's utterly ruined life. All on account of Gaspard's childish naivete.

It's clear that Gaspard ratted them out.
Let's not forget that he did not see himself as a criminal. Perhaps the warden told him (or made up) the heinous crimes the other four had committed. Perhaps his feelings were hurt by the others because of their lack of trust, especially Geo didn't like him much. And may be he was just a prick who would sell his own mother.

I liked the open ending, we don't know Gaspards motives, but how anyone believes he did not snitch is beyond me. He even cried for help as soon as the warders outside were spotted, before he was attacked even.

Whe KNOW that Gaspard betrayed the other!

How do we know?

1. He screamed when he understood that the others knew he was the snitch so the guards would save him.
2. He was not frisked or in any way threated like the others


As for why he turned them in it should be obvious to all that helping convicts escape is a crime. He had to turn them in if he wanted to get off.

Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyle

As much as I enjoy prison movies, most of them are quite predictable, this one wasn't, what a great surprise.

One does not know for "certain" if Gaspard turned in the others. That was the beauty of it.