"The Hole" is the posthumous work of French director Jacques Baker.
It was released in 1960, 34 years before "The Shawshank Redemption". It was a commercial film, but its smooth and delicate lens language leapt forward to raise the threshold of prison break movies, or suspense films.
It is undeniably a moment in film history, and the documentary aesthetic and avant-garde approach throughout the film make it a bridge between the eras of French poetic realism and the New Wave.
A lot of film reading experience can easily blind our cognition of old movies. Therefore, when watching movies, don’t stick to the movie viewing habits you have developed. Be sure to forget the superb techniques in modern prison break movies, and be sure to put yourself in the 20s. Under the background of the 1960s, starting from scratch, spy on the epoch-making camera techniques, appreciate the light and shade in black and white movies, and feel the sublimation of plot and emotion step by step.
Specific pull tabs:
00:00:00-00:01:05
At the end of Truffaut's "Four Hundred Blows", the protagonist looks at the camera. This is the first time in the history of the film that the characters in the painting and the audience look at each other. It breaks the traditional film taboo - "Actors must not look at the camera" .
The same technique also appeared at the beginning of "The Hole". The protagonist slowly turned around and looked directly at the camera, that is, looking directly at the audience, and slowly unfolded his thrilling story.
Such an opening is undoubtedly the old director's powerful flag for the new wave.
00:01:06-00:01:35
The solemn bell and a group of panning shots bring out the panoramic view of the prison, and finally freeze in the picture of the high wall and small windows. The depressing composition is the gloomy prison.
00:01:36-00:04:01
The panorama explains the internal environment of the prison. The protagonist Claude walks from far to near, stepping into the center of the frame, but the director does not directly give him a close-up, but takes the lead through the close-up of a group of other characters and the "front and back" of the dialogue. Another little story - a prisoner went on a hunger strike as a foreshadowing. Among them, the image of the prisoner also changed from close-up to close-up with emotional excitement.
After that, Claude entered the interrogation room, and in the dialogue between him and the "chief", the single shot turned into an over-the-shoulder shot, indicating that the two gradually established a connection.
These two different interrogations initially reflected the snobbery and cunning of the "chief", and Claude's "politeness" also set a feminine tone for this character.
00:04:02-00:06:50
When Claude changes to a new cell, the audience may have a lot of questions: Why are the prisoners dressed so fashionably? Why are prison conditions so good? Is this the French romance?
Putting down these "jumping" questions, let's first get acquainted with Claude's cellmates.
When I first entered the door, it was a small panorama, including Claude's new inmates. The close-up and subjective shots when introducing each other were fast-paced, and it was done in one go. It can be seen that Manu's cautiousness, Roland's shrewdness, and Gio's Indifference and the "relative enthusiasm" of "Your Excellency".
But there was no Gio in the small panorama at the beginning. He was sleeping and in the lower right corner outside the frame. Maybe it was because of limited space and insufficient frame size, but I prefer to interpret this scheduling as a response to Gio A state of semi-detachment, or a hint of destiny.
00:06:51-00:08:46
The close-up leads out the prison guards, and in the process of accepting the task, the camera is independently given to each character to further reflect the character.
We can see that Roland was the first to get up, and he will maintain the role of the leader in subsequent actions; Manu's close-up shows his strong execution ability; the small panorama outside the room highlights "Your Excellency" ”; Gio’s close-up re-emphasizes his “estrangement” from the team; the position of the cardboard is also highlighted by a shot.
00:08:47-00:13:54
The picture cuts to the outside of the cell, and a small panorama tells the prison guard to open the door of the cell. Please pay attention to this detail: the prison guard uses the same key to open the two cells.
The director will not leave any meaningless shots, especially this kind of suspense film, which is full of foreshadowing.
When everyone sat down, the camera moved closer with Gio dragging the stool, and we knew that the next thing would be a tentative understanding of the inmates. During this time, the camera switched back and forth between the close-up and the panorama of the characters, and everyone shared the picture, gradually establishing a relationship, and showing the internal environment of the cell more clearly.
In the conversation, the topic of jailbreaking was brought up quickly, without too much foreshadowing.
00:13:55-00:16:53
When Claude took the package, it was a set of long shots, so long that the audience would feel a little irritable, and he wanted to say in his heart to cut those damn sausages and give him the food!
The long shot will change the rhythm of the movie. The audience is easy to associate in the long shot, and it is easier to empathize with the characters in the movie. When a sense of irritability grows in the heart, it means that the audience is deeper into the director's creation. this story.
00:16:54-00:21:39
Characters in the same picture often share the same feelings, or have similar fates later.
During the in-depth discussions among the inmates, we can learn about the characters and their final destiny from the distribution and dialogue of the characters on the screen. It may not be accurate, but the general direction is the same.
Finally, he gave Roland a close-up view, and the dialogue explained that he had 3 prison escape experiences, the shady transition, and the next chapter of the movie will begin.
The opening part is actually very informative, the characters are portrayed in general outlines, the introduction of the shots is coherent, and the theme is straightforward.
00:21:40-00:23:12
Every line of the movie is worth scrutinizing, the opening of the next stage, Manu said to Claude "As long as you believe in us, you will be lucky", see the end and combine with the last line of Roland's "Poor Guy". Spade", we'll see how ironic that statement is.
After a small panorama, the lens was fixed for more than a minute. During this short period of time, the audience can easily see the inner drama of each character, which is very interesting, and the characters are full of images all at once.
00:23:13-00:27:43
The transition is with the help of the fading lights in the cell, panning the camera to put "Your Excellency" and Claude in the same picture, and continue the discussion about life, money, women, and marriage. After the shady scene, the morning life in the cell was shown through a set of shots. Finally, Claude approached the camera and dropped the frame to give a close-up view.
In this section, in addition to explaining the environment and enhancing the image of the characters, the fall is the key. Claude seems to be hiding something, or thinking about something, which must be unusual.
00:25:15-00:31:23
Close-up of origami, panning to Roland to get a mirror. When there is a prohibited object in the cell, the tension comes suddenly, especially when a key is used to open the door, the rhythm is even tighter, and the tension is extended through the long body search one by one.
It is through similar multiple sets of shots that the director drives the audience's emotions, allowing the audience to fall into the set "emotional trap" inadvertently.
00:31:24-00:33:47
What follows is a short story of inmates in three cells passing prohibited items on ropes. From the perspective of a third party fixed outside the high walls of the prison, the camera uses a panning lens to record this tense and interesting part.
A friendly external environment and skilled collaboration are also a necessary condition for jailbreaking.
00:33:48-00:51:27
When everyone handed over the surveillance task to the new Claude, the prison break drama officially kicked off.
We will find that there are very few direct shots of the outside of the cell in the whole film, and most of them connect the two worlds inside and outside the cell through self-made "monitors". Such subjective shots are more conducive to the audience's integration into the prison escape process. "Monitors" have become The pusher of the plot, by which every tension of the outside world will be communicated directly and amplified.
In the long shot of digging a hole, our point of view is almost completely focused on the cement, and we observe its damage in the "flying sand and stone". Beating the hearts of the audience, coupled with the wheezing of the beaters, continuously promotes the emotions.
Different from the music dubbing, the strong authenticity presented by these real sound sources at this time has become an important support for this group of long shots, and with a strong impact, it breaks through the limited space of the picture.
This documentary, paragraph-style footage, is plentiful in this film, characteristic of French poetic realism. Record life with a faithful and objective attitude.
00:51:28-00:56:45
Before sawing the steel bar, the director never gave any shots beyond the iron fence, which preserved the suspense well, which is a point that the director leads the audience.
Then pan to follow the two escapees, a deep panorama brings the environment into the "bright" place, then cuts to a close-up to explain their next move, and the close-up elicits tension again. The dramatic scene of evading the prison guards fully demonstrates the charm of the film's coincidence.
When we saw the two jailbreakers slowly walk to the end in the narrow passage with homemade fire, we will find that the natural light is used here, and there is no other light source. In fact, not only this shot, but the entire movie is not lit. At this time, there is only a circle of light around the character in the frame, and the fixed camera position makes the light gradually move away with the character, and the remaining darkness is getting bigger and bigger, and the sense of oppression and hopelessness is highlighted.
00:56:46-01:09:53
A follow-up shot of nearly half a minute takes the audience to the next room in the underground world. The similar shots from before are used to reflect the environmental commonality of several rooms.
Here comes the horror scene.
This is a short story of a prison guard and a spider. In the close-up, an extremely uncomfortable close-up is cut, and the perverted psychology is fully exposed. It is also a hint to the ending of the escape, a metaphor for the topic of freedom: any freedom is just so-called freedom, and its essence is the helplessness of "people are swordsmen, I am fish and meat".
The "concrete wall" may seem hopeless to the audience, but in the eyes of the jailbreakers, this is also an opportunity given by God.
The close-up of the transition is given to the "monitor", and with the "last second rescue" of the plot, the first part of the escape comes to an end.
A few simple dialogues explained the problems encountered in the first attempt, and led to the preparations that need to be done in the next stage.
01:09:54-01:12:56
The camera closely followed the sight of "Your Excellency", stopped on several glass vials, and then followed by a lens with a similar focal length and a similar subject, leading the main body of the story to the doctor's injection. At this moment, the audience's attention is in the dialogue between the doctor and the patient. , what is actually important is the "Your Excellency" outside the frame, who is preparing the most important materials for the next stage of jailbreak.
This group of shots is a common editing technique for leading the audience in suspense films. There are three or two shots like "grass snakes and gray lines", usually close-up shots. It is the story in the original shot. It is outside the frame, but it shares the same time point with the world in the frame. The specific content is often mentioned in the later episodes, which makes the audience feel suddenly enlightened. This is a surprise.
01:12:57-01:23:32
In the face of the thick and hard concrete wall, the camera is still documentary, and through the "jump cut" method, part of the time for cutting the wall is omitted, and the staged results are shown to the audience.
01:23:33-01:31:25
The episode of the plumber being arrested for stealing things has little effect on the main plot, but it emphasizes the characterization and deepening of the theme.
Attentive audiences will notice that the director has not mentioned the guilt of prisoners other than Claude until now. The director deliberately avoided this point in order to save possible subjective impressions and discard a little impurity in characterization, so as to make This seemingly unforgivable "prisoner escape" story is not so dazzling in the audience's ethics and morality.
The story of the plumber stealing is further evidence of this purpose.
Of course, it also indirectly tells the audience that the prison is not a place to judge good and evil, the people inside are not necessarily evil, and the people outside are by no means completely kind, and each environment has its own rules.
01:31:26-01:37:24
I gave a close-up of the lights in the cell again. This is the second time. I still remember the first time when everyone accepted the newcomer Claude. It was also the first time Gio proposed to stay.
When a seemingly meaningless "empty mirror" appears many times, we should probably pay more attention to the plot. Indeed, behind every close-up of the lights is an important turning point.
Regarding Gio's stay, in addition to showing the fate of different characters in the prison, it is also to compare with Claude's behavior. The active choice eventually becomes passive execution. I think everyone is distressed by this "big boy" in the end. Especially when there are close-ups of Gio and Roland's hands, the audience's feelings for these characters are also deepening.
Seeing this, we can clearly feel that the director's expression is no longer limited to the process of escape and the interpretation of the theme of freedom, but also the discussion of human relations, social relations and emotions.
01:34:07-01:43:08
I really don't want to say more about Claude's triangular relationship. The word "scumbag" is just a one-off.
It is worth noting that Claude, the little white face, was annoyed by Gio's question. This scene is a close-up shot of a single character. There are no two or more characters sharing the picture. The relationship between prisoners at this moment seems to be starting. drifting away.
Going to the wrong cell and encountering the "chief", mentioning the golden lighter, Claude's relationship with the "chief" is inadvertently closer, and his original cell does not seem to be under construction, which lays the groundwork for the following plot.
01:43:09-01:51:37
Close-up of this light again, now we know, the moment comes, the hole is dug through.
For the first time in the subjective lens of Claude and Manu, we truly feel the breath of freedom, gray, wet, fresh, long-lost...
In addition, what is worth noting in this passage is the motivation of the prison guards suddenly coming to the room.
01:51:38-02:02:59
When everyone decided to escape from prison at night, many close-ups and close-ups were given to Gio, deepening this sense of helplessness and alienation. Lens language is crucial in suspense movies, it is the points where the truth is gathered.
Some comments on the Internet will speculate that it is actually Gio leaking, because Gio has a lot of hidden individual shots that are generally not noticed, which is a bit overthinking, and it is still obvious who the leaker is.
Two shady transitions are enough to explain everything, and shady transitions generally mean that there is a certain time span.
One is that the "head" clearly said to Claude "what are you thinking about, I may be able to help you" during the conversation, and then paused for a few seconds and then turned to the shady scene;
The second is the two shots where the "head of the building" is called into the office. They are separated from the screen by a black screen. The difference is the movement of the characters in the screen. The two cleaning people changed from squatting lazily to pretending to work hard. Wipe the ground, obviously, a long time has passed in the middle.
This is the information brought by the language of the camera. Even if Manu did not reveal in his lines that Claude was gone for two hours, the facts were relatively clear.
What was the talk about in that long period of time? It was predictable in the performance of Claude and the "floor head" after the conversation. So the leaker is very clear about this.
02:03:00-End of the play
The close-up of the monitor reappears, relaying how everyone is well-dressed for their new life. Most viewers should have guessed the ending, but there is still a little hope in their hearts, because these prisoners don't seem to be heinous.
When Gio was talking with the prison guard, he suddenly cut from the middle ground to a close-up of the prison guard, which was unexpected, but also very important.
The most classic scene appeared, which could be said to be terrifying for many viewers of the year: a group of prison guards suddenly appeared in the close-up of the monitor. Then with Claude shouting as a password, the prison guards broke in, and the escape was over.
Claude walked out of the cell, and the characters gradually filled the whole frame. The camera followed his eyes and swept to the rest of the inmates. The words "Poor Gaspard" revealed the background of Claude's characters.
The lens of the leading audience brought out by the mirror reflection is avant-garde, and the noisy capture process is realistic. Although this climax will leave some regrets for the audience, it is completely reasonable.
There is also a set of shots at the end of the film: Claude walks from the near side of the frame to the far side, the opposite of the opening scene, then the close-up shows him being locked in a new empty cell, and finally gives a close-up of the locked door.
Without this scene, most viewers would have thought that Claude had leaked about his cellmate's escape because his wife dropped the lawsuit.
But apparently it's not that simple.
It is very likely that the prison "head" saw through their idea of escape, manipulated Claude, and disintegrated the operation.
Details as follow:
First of all, the appearance of the "head" is not necessarily necessary.
We can see that the "chief" is snobbish and cunning. The place where he appeared before was only the office, the interrogation room, and he never set foot in the cell. When he summoned Claude, he did so through the role of "the head of the building". , In addition, after the "head of the building" sent Claude away, he returned to the office of the "head". This scene can actually be deleted, but the director kept it, indicating that there may be some secrets between the two of them. Then the content of this follow-up discussion is likely to be about Claude's disposal. So the appearance of the "head" may be to give an additional order: put Claude in another cell alone.
Secondly, we mentioned earlier that the prison guards came to their cell to check the saw blades, so the reason may be that they heard the movement at night, so the chief started with the newcomer Claude, even if his original cell was repaired, he did not arrange for him to go back, and Claude dared to go back. Small, cowardly, and very provocative, so he made up the story of Claude's wife's withdrawal of the lawsuit to induce him to explain the real situation.
Moreover, we know from the conversation between Claude and the sister-in-law who visited the prison that his wife has absolutely no possibility of withdrawing the lawsuit.
But in general, the ending is still open. The important thing is not what it is, but how much improvement everyone thinks about it will bring to themselves.
Tribute to Jacques Baker, who left such a wonderful chapter in film history.
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