Le Trou (1960)

Today's film is Le Trou. It's two hours of men meticulously digging their way through prison and it sounds like a construction zone. The prison shown in France is a lot different than the prisons here in America.  The prisoners are wearing their own clothes and not orange or pink jumpsuits, they all eat in the cells and not in a common area cafeteria, and the cell door is an actual door instead of bars so the prisoners have plenty of privacy. And, they often get packages of fresh groceries from their relatives. However, the guard uses the same knife to check every single item of food and that kind of cross-contamination is gross. For example, he slices through the sausage, then stirs through the pudding. I don't want sausage flavor in pudding. Thanks guard, you just ruined that guy's pudding.

The escape plan is masterminded by Roland. I am pretty sure he's a ninja. He hides from the guards with another man standing on his shoulders, and manages to lightly step around a pillar to avoid them. He also Macgyvers a periscope out of a toothbrush and mirror. He also makes dummies out of cardboard parts.

Are you seeing this? This is genius!

I do like how the movie has no music. It provides realism and increases the suspense of whether they get caught by the guards.  However, the suspense is greatly lessened because my daughter is sitting on my lap singing, so everyone's movie experience is different.

People back then were a lot skinnier than they are today. Try remaking this movie in 2013 America. Not happening. The realism of the film was impressive though and gets a 7/10. The prisoners were so careful not to get caught. However, they spent days digging in a concrete tunnel. Did they really expect the guards not to hear them?