As long as men have been placed behind bars they've plotted to escape, and those plans have powered prison-break movies without end. But even in that large group, "Le Trou" stands apart.

If you ever wind up in a French prison, don't smuggle in a file - just bring a DVD of this movie. It's practically a guide to breaking out.

Becker details the ambient violence of prison life, the hidden negotiations between captives and captors, and the solidarity of detainees, but his deeply empathetic, fanatically specific view of his protagonists leaves out some elements.

One of the greatest prison films ever made ...