Papillon (1973)

Simply Perfect

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A great drama, and an epic adventure. I saw this when it first came out; I remember the leper colony scene, but hardly anything else. Thankfully, I came back to Papillon. McQueen was perfectly cast as the title character; this might be his best performance. The zigzagging between hope and despair, idyllic freedom and abject suffering, with all the shades in between, shows excellent writing, even given the fascinating original story. McQueen's severe and abrupt changes of fortune point out the nuances of human behavior, as well as the role of chance in life.None of this highly complex atmosphere would work without the mixture of sympathy with sadism, hospitality with hostility, exotic, picturesque locales with the numb routine of the prison cell. Not all the guards are brutal, not all the prisoners deserve our sympathy. Likewise, the various 'outsider' cultures are in different worlds from the prison culture, as well as from each other.There are several poignant scenes: the guys in solitaire who introduce themselves as they poke their heads out of their cells, reassuring their neighbor that they 'look well', when they probably both know that the other looks terrible. The friendships broken by death, suddenly or slowly rendered, of an old friend or a new one, happen with pathetic regularity. The capacity to share and to help keeps the prisoners human, even uplifting them.I'm tempted to say that there's an existential thread running through Papillon, given that the book was written in the 30s, at the height of the French existentialist movement. Certainly there's meticulous attention to the existentialist theme of surviving in an absurd world with dignity. Oddly enough, with the crushing level of authority ruling the prisoners, they retain the considerable freedom of their attitude towards their dilemma.Even as pure adventure, Papillon succeeds. The cinematography is beautiful where beauty is present, and horrifying where terror rules. I usually zone-out when a movie runs more than two hours, but in this case I didn't want it to end. McQueen is the quintessential adventurer. He overcomes so many obstacles; but he's not superman, and so he also makes plenty of mistakes. His character's demeanor as a cautious but essentially trusting man serves him well. He survives because he knows that there's no obvious truth, but only situations; and each calls for its own plan. The flashes of humor highlight the discrepancies between what one expects, and what actually happens. No one would expect a prison movie to show inmates chasing butterflies--but there it is, and it certainly fits. McQueen's nonchalance is put to the ultimate test when he accepts the leper's cigar. That he unwittingly fools the leper shows a superb interplay of danger and luck.There's considerable deception going on throughout. A game-like quality coexists with the deadly serious aspects of repeated escape and confinement. That brings up my only issue with Papillon: Dustin Hoffman's performance shows too much posing, and not enough grit.He's got this bemused look that doesn't fit his character. It's as though he's above it all, in on all the machinations of prison life, and even comfortable with it. He does makes a good foil for McQueen's restlessness, but his Zen-like gaze is a bit much.We really don't get into ethics here; clearly neither McQueen's nor Hoffman's characters are violent criminal types. Some of the characters have probably been rail-roaded, but some of them are murderers. In a way, it doesn't matter what the characters have done to land them in Guyana. We're judging them on how they act in these moments. A great movie; intricate, and yet, all of a piece.

Frankin J. Schaffner was a great filmmaker, well known for his intense use of realism; his gritty, but stylish visual style; the innovative way of using the camera and, above all, his talented skills as a storyteller, responsible in commanding incredible screen epics such as "Planet of the Apes" ('68); "Patton" ('70); "Nicholas and Alexandra" ('71) and "The Boys from Brazil" ('78)."Papillon", from a screenplay penned by the ex-blacklisted, Dalton Trumbo & Lorenzo Semple Jr., based on the 1969 autobiography by the French convict, Henri Charrière, it's one of his best films, a genuine landmark on the "prison movies" sub-genre, as well one of the pinnacles of the 70's cinema.Its own realism is astonishing, since the very first scene when the viewer learn about those doomed men coming from all social classes, convicted to a strictly sentence on the French Guiana, an inhuman penal colony (located on the north Atlantic coast of South America in the Guyanas, an overseas department of France), Schaffner shot it in almost documentary style on the subject, the long way to their own personal hell.Among them, is our protagonist, an anti-hero that calls himself "Papillon" (the french word for "Butterfly"), a man wrongly accused to have killed a pimp, that refuses to be institutionalized and his determination to escape makes him to become friends with a popular forger, named Louis Dega, which have more (hidden) money to bribe and finance an escape, than courage itself. The two will form a solid friendship that will last for almost two decades...Steve McQueen gives here his best on-screen performance of his short lived life, even better than his only Oscar nominated role in "The Sand Pebbles" ('66), he's impressive & amazing and totally believable as Charrière (even if he was almost 20 years older than the real "Papillon" when he arrived at the French Guiana) and as both a method and physical actor, he was not afraid to be filmed dirty, unshaven, covered in rags and even going to the mud of Kilo 40's filthiest swamp, in an excellently staged & shot scene, when both our protagonists are trying to catch a wounded, but furious alligator.McQueen surpassed himself here and delivered a 'tour de force' haunting performance that the viewer will never forget (Schaffner must have contributed to it, because as a great director of actors, he was responsible for four of his actors have been Oscar nominated: Lee Tracy in "The Best Man" ('64); George C. Scott in "Patton" ('70), which he won, but refused; Janet Suzman in "Nicholas and Alexandra" ('71) and Sir Laurence Olivier in "The Boys from Brazil" ('78), as well giving the glorious Chuck Heston a career resurgence in the critical acclaimed and box office hit, "Planet of the Apes" ('68). McQueen's snub for an Oscar nomination (he was nominated for the Golden Globe) may have been due to his affair with Ali MacGraw, then the wife of one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, Robert Evans, and even if McQueen married her around the time "Papillon" was released, the bitterness of Evans may have cost him the deserved recognition.Dustin Hoffman, still fresh from his two Oscar nominated roles in "The Graduate" ('67) and "Midnight Cowboy" ('69), emerged as the new star for the 70's Era and also delivered an excellent performance as the cowardly submissive and resigned, Dega, in a unforgettable turn that also deserved more praise.The supporting cast delivers honest and reliable performances such as Don Gordon (one of McQueen's closest friends and his regular co-star) as the Ill-fated Julot; Woodrow Parfrey as Clusiot or an unrecognizable Anthony Zerbe in a sympathetic turn as Toussaint, the chief from the Leper Colony, the only man from the outside world that treated Charrière with dignity and respect (and vice versa).The cinematography and the peculiar camera angles used are top notch, we can feel the sweat from the convicts and the filth from the Penal Colony, as much as their desperation and the scenes with McQueen in the solitary confinement are among the best ever filmed in this sub-genre.Jerry Goldsmith, an usual colaborator of Schaffner, once again got an Oscar nomination for his memorable orchestration here and it's hard to believe that it was the only Oscar nomination that this masterpiece got.Some purists argue that the movie distances too much from the source material (Dega's involvement in the autobiography is way shorter), but books and movies are two different mediums, and it needed changes to work as a motion picture.In short, the "escape from / prison" movies, it's a sub-genre that fortunately, have lots of (near) masterpieces filmed, such as Jules Dassin' "Brute Force" ('48) & John Frankenheimer's "Birdman of Alcatraz" ('62) both starring Burt Lancaster; John Sturges' "The Great Escape" ('63) also with Steve McQueen; Stuart Rosenberg's "Cool Hand Luke" ('67) starring Paul Newman or Don Siegel's "Escape from Alcatraz" ('79) starring Clint Eastwood, but "Papillon" it's easily placed on the Top 5 of the whole lot, offering a thrilling and engaging experience, as well a profound and heart touching life journey about the perseverance of a human being, tested to the limit, who never gave up.As a footnote, this movie's distinctive visual style, cinematography and direction, influenced a lot of future productions, such as William Friedkin's "Sorcerer" ('77); Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" ('79) and even Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" ('81), among lots of others...

Saturday afternoon at Arte Palacio Theatre in 1980,l and my old brother Pedro which is already like myself a movie fan,actually invited me since if l had to pay the tickets to see "Papillon" he had heard wonders about this picture,so we had a good time together which we never forget...now l've finally get my brand new Blu-ray from this remarkable movie...see all those wonderful images in high definition is beyond that l'd never imagined,the stunning performance for two leading roles Macqueen and Hoffman whose deserves an Oscar for both...Papillon and Dega...the arrival...the escape...the cell...the new escape...meeting the lepers....the easy life on shore...the betray on convent...meeting Dega again....the final escape...this timeless picture thriller me when start on Blu-ray...an experience of felling just a couple times in Ben Hur and Planet of the Apes...fantastic really!! Resume: First watch: 1980 / How many: 7 / Source: Theatre-TV-DVD-Blu-ray / Rating: 10

"Papillon" is the closest I've seen Steve McQueen attempt to actually act. He was never an actor, he simply stuck to a certain image and that was it. To be fair to him though, he did make some outstanding films. Several of his films were box office successes, including the above. Dustin Hoffman is the actor to watch, he conveys vulnerability as well as intelligence as a fellow inmate. From the first moment of "Papillon," you never forget the harshness and cruelty that the prison staff inflict upon the convicts. The living conditions for the latter are thoroughly deplorable and these are shown via scant lighting and arched camera angles. Steve McQueen is the convict who never confirms to the prison system, his fighting spirit remaining active throughout. This is McQueen's last film of quality and it is a masterpiece.