MovieChat Forums > Le trou (1997) Discussion > Some thoughts on a masterpiece ***SPOILE...

Some thoughts on a masterpiece SPOILERS

posted 18 years ago by UnholyBlackMetal
2 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this last night and thought it was brilliant. There were a few things I was curious about afterwards.

First, I wonder if they had that "true story" thing at the beginning with one of the actors in order to make the viewer think they get out in the end. I know while I was watching I was sure they would escape (even though it seems they often don't in these types of movies). I wonder if part of the reason I was so sure was that I had just seen one of the prisoners "free" after the fact. And was this really a true story? Was this really the guy in the beginning's story?

Secondly, does anyone have any thoughts on the scene at the very end after the guy has just blabbed to the Warden? He is obviously the "bad guy" (for selling everyone out) by the end of the film, but how about his cell mates letting him keep on believing that he was going to stay in prison even if the charges were reversed? First you see that they believe he didn't rat on them, next you see them letting him think that there was no way he was going free (even though I have a feeling they knew he could easily walk). Was Becker showing their deceit here, or am I reading too much into this?

Great great movie (hehe, even though my girlfriend who was doing homework in the next room did not enjoy listening to it: "Is this whole damn movie going to be them banging a steel bar on concrete????")

[–] LtdTimeAuthor 15 years ago

I agree that seeing the jailbreak leader on the street, leads one to believe they'll succeed.

It IS his story: it's a fictional version of a 1947 French jail break, with the ringleader played by one of the actual conspirators, based on a novel by another prisoner. Jose Giovanni spent years on Death Row & wrote novels while there. After he was exonerated he became one of Europe's best screenwriters, & Giovanni directed films too.

David Stevens

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

Was Becker showing their deceit here, or am I reading too much into this?

What choice did they have? By now he was 'one of them' in their minds, apart from Manu's. Manu was sceptical about him from the start, promising the others would see later what he saw in Gaspard. Little did he realise quite what he was foretelling at the time. When Gaspard returns if they place too much pressure on him, knowing that his case means he is looking at a much lower sentence, if one at all, then he might break and if not tell on them cause some problems that lead them to being discovered.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

Some thoughts on a masterpiece ***SPOILERS***

Some thoughts on a masterpiece SPOILERS