Benign Prison Life


I just saw Le Trou on TV5 tonight and enjoyed it. However, the depiction of prison life didn't ring true for me. Were French prisoners always so polite? Lots of pleases and thank yous, almost immediate and kind acceptance of a new cellmate, etc. Not only that, but in the only real violence in the film the two plumbers who stole their cigarettes and stamps just get a good face slapping. The Prison itself also doesn't seem like that bad a place. Most of the guards are civil if not somewhat friendly, the prisoners wear street clothes and are allowed to receive care packages, etc. All in all a somewhat idyllic picture. Was the director prohibited from making a more realistic depiction by authorities at the time? Or?

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This was 1960. People in general were less callous and crass, and had less filthy mouths. Even criminals.

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The screenplay & novel were written by Jose Giovanni, who'd recently gotten out of a French prison, & based his novel on an actual escape. The man who played the ringleader was actually involved in that escape ! I worked in U.S. prisons & jails for 10 years as a counselor & program manager - to me Le Trou was similiar to everyday U.S. institutional life in the 1970's. Convicts were polite to each other because they never knew who might be at a breaking point & snap - so why take a chance ?

The cell block captain in Le Trou gave the conspirators the opportunity to get their cigarettes back - the beating couldn't go too far, because then they & the captain could get in trouble, and handling it that way saved the jail administration the bother of a disciplinary hearing, while keeping the inmate plumbers, whose skills were needed, in line. By keeping the detainees in their cells more often than the U.S. did at the time, the prisoners in the movie had less opportunity for uncontrollable violence against the guards & each other.

David Stevens

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[deleted]

'France didn't have uncontrolled slums filled with uneducated unemployed Muslim immigrants back then'

A lot of these immigrants would be educated and employed if the despots running their countries (who have the full support and are armed by so-called 'civilized' peoples) were socialist - which is what the people want - but I guess that nationalizing the oil supply would not be in the western powers' interests right?

"Really makes you question wether it's a brilliant idea to change to US immigration policy w/o the resources of that empire.l.l"

Here's a dirty little secret nobody talks about - the US NEEDS cheap labour. When 'Globalization' started (which was nothing but an excuse to ram developed countries goods down the throats of third world nations and steal/own their resources) they came a cropper; their good were too expensive for the developed nations to buy and the third world countries were beating them bot in the price wars and in the quality control department. Plus the powers-that-be made a major mistake: They made the WTO a REAL democracy (every country had a vote each; so the smaller/poorer nations voted en masse against the bigger ones to safeguard their industries - they even co-ordinated their efforts to help each other - why do you think Brazil is so friendly with Iran?) and as a result were outnumbered by their competitors - so the only way for the US to compete was to produce cheap goods themselves - but make sure that the people making the goods worked for slave wages - why do you think Bush wrecked Mexico's economy by signing a free trade agreement with them (ostensibly to allow Mexico access to the USA's markets) but then flooding their markets with cheap Chinese knock offs?

Don't be fooled by politician's talk - talk is cheap. It's their actions that matter. As Jesse Ventura said, "That border they're building around the southern border - no one puts up a border to keep people OUT - borders have only been successful in keeping people IN."

P.S. Speaking of manners, I was living in an Arab country, the U.A.E. and all the Arabs I met had impeccable manners - a far cry from all the so-called 'civilized' people from western countries living there who would whine, complain and generally behave in an ungrateful manner despite being handsomely remunerated - as well as demanding that certain amenities provided to them were exactly like their home countries - while expecting foreigners to adopt THEIR customs when THEY visit their countries! I even spent time in some European capitals where the locals were at beat, stand-offish, and at worst, rude to the point of being hostile. Basically if you're not providing them with YOUR hard earned cash - you're useless to them. I suppose that the ONLY people who are polite in these western countries are prisoners - they'll thump you otherwise!

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You should change your nick to sonofxenophobicwhore.




I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger...I am the Teeth in the Darkness




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Well said, El_Guapo!

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I have a relative who was in prison some years ago and although it was far from idyllic he did say his four cell mates were an extremely civilised bunch.

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Seemed like a chill place to me. It would definitely get cramped fast, but it didnt seem so bad chilling in that cell and hanging out all day.

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