PAPILLON (1973)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Adventure / Drama

Director: Franklin Schaffner

Cast: Steve McQueen / Dustin Hoffman / Woodrow Parfrey

Plot

Framed for murder, Papillon is sent to a prison island in French Guiana and along with his friend, Louis Dega, attempts escape, risking death to do so.

What I Liked

“Papillon” is at once an astonishing adventure and a moving drama of perseverance and friendship.  That it is based on a true story makes both aspects all the more powerful.  In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were several important movies that depicted the individual’s fight to survive against oppressive conformism.  Most of them are fiction and yet few of them once produce the astonishment and disbelief that “Papillon” does several times over.

Stars Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman accentuate the entertainment value with intimacy and soul, both turning in performances that rank among the best in their accomplished careers, at least so far as what I've seen of them.  As the events of the film take their toll on both characters, their personalities and their relationship change greatly, but the transformations happen with a believable subtlety.  The crippling physical changes in Papillon and Dega are obvious, but it’s the psychological and spiritual changes that really fascinate when looking at the men at the film’s start and comparing them with the same men by the conclusion.

The peripheral characters are another captivating aspect of the film.  Papillon and Dega meet a great many people in their years in prison camps and never once does one doubt that these would be the type of men one would meet in a living hell.

What I Didn’t Like

The “paradise” scenes where Papillon briefly finds peace and companionship when he is taken in by a tribe of natives seem contrived and preposterous.  If these moments are indeed recorded in Papillon’s autobiography (the film’s source material, which I admit I have not read) then I would still have to doubt that they happened as there seems to have been no other witnesses to these events but himself.  In addition they don’t really fit the feel or plot of the film.  It’s an unnecessary interlude that adds nothing to the film and could have been left out.  Luckily this vacation of sorts is brief and the film gets moving again quickly.

Most Memorable Scene:

*spoiler alert*

Papillon’s final, most dangerous escape attempt doesn’t just resolve the conflict, it provides a moving and fitting close to the friendship between Papillon and Dega and a spectacular visual stunt.  It’s the most astounding moment of an already amazing film.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5