Roland

Whoever admires the most recent feature film by Jacques Becker or has recently rediscovered The Hole must see this film, which paints a fragmentary portrait of Roland Barbat, the protagonist and inspiration of this prison film masterpiece, shot in 1960. Intermingling the voices of his daughter and of Roland, harmoniously combining archive images, excerpts from Hole, elegant tracking shots, and photos and interviews of the day, the filmmaker organises fading memories, a legendary story, cinematographic vestiges, and family narrative. He thus becomes the humble scribe, on film, of a beautiful declaration of filial love – and this is no doubt what makes the film so moving.