Papillon
by Franklin J. Schaffner
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Zerbe, Don Gordon, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Mcqueen, Victor JoryDirector: Franklin J. Schaffner
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 150 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 70097
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Papillon
Movie Review: Indomitable spirit
Summary: 5 Stars
"Papillon" is the apparently true story of Henri Charriere, the only person to successfully escape from Devil's Island off French Guiana. There is little argument that the real Henri was not a felon; he seems to have spent the majority of his formative years (and later) in and out of various prisons. The premise in "Papillon", however, is that he was sent away at that time for a crime that he did not commit. Regardless of the truth, the story is gripping and plausible, and well worth the time, though the movie is about a half-hour too long.
Papillon is portrayed by Steve McQueen, in arguably the best performance of his career, certainly the role with the most emotional depth. I have always been a fan of McQueen's; I truly believe he was cheated out of an Oscar here, as he becomes Henri Charriere completely, weathering abysmal prison conditions and surviving by sheer will. He befriends fellow convict Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman, another great performance), a first-rate forger transported for defrauding the French Government with fake bonds. He is known to be wealthy, and therefore a target for assassins within the prison system (the method of retaining funds is gruesome; a tube inserted into the rectum of the prisoner for safekeeping) so Louis approaches Papillon for protection. This arrangement develops over time into a friendship, sometimes tenuous, but it works throughout the movie, as the two convicts go through atrocious events together.
The film seems to span long years; at least two long solitary confinements for Papillon for escape attempts; and goes very in depth about the nature of the prison system, its priveledges and punishments, and the manner of survival in almost any situation you could dream up. The French Colonial prison system was a model of barbarism, and its remains can still be seen on various islands; it is something of an irony, however, that the islands purported to be inescapeable and therefore not guarded that closely (the sea was full of sharks which were considered to be enough of a deterrent to escape attempts)are now resorts. If you have enough cash now, you can sit on Dreyfus's Bench yourself.
This was a great movie; not perhaps to everyone's taste, but a harrowing film nonetheless, with wonderful performances by McQueen and Hoffman. There is also a great score by Jerry Goldsmith, which perfectly complements the action in the film.
Summary of Papillon
They called him Papillon, meaning "butterfly." If only he had wings to go with the name. Unable to fly, Henri Charriere virtually willed himself free. He persisted until he did the impossible: escape Devil's Island. Based on Charriere's bestseller and shot in Spain and Jamaica, Franklin J. Schaffner's film of Papillon united two stars at key career junctures. After a decade of fine work in The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles and Bullitt, Steve McQueen found in Charriere another ideal tough-guy role. Coming off The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy and Little Big Man, Dustin Hoffman again distinguished himself as Dega, Charriere's scruffy friend.DVD Features:Other:Vintage Featurette: The Magnificent RebelTheatrical Trailer:
Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton) directs this true story of Henri Charriere (better known as "Papillon" or "the butterfly"), a prisoner so determined to escape the notorious Devil's Island, he attempted it multiple times until he reached old age. Steve McQueen plays Charriere, and Dustin Hoffman is very good as the hero's anxious, defenseless friend. Based on Charriere's own memoir and uncompromisingly adapted by screenwriters Dalton Trumbo (Johnny Got His Gun) and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (Three Days of the Condor), the film is tough going (it is set, after all, on Devil's Island) but not gratuitously violent. There are sequences that stay with one for a long time, such as Papillon's brief stay at a leper colony and the long periods of starvation and solitary confinement he endures after each attempted flight. --Tom Keogh
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