Papillon (1973)

John Chard January 26, 2019

★ 9/10

Grim and authentic telling of Henri "Papillon" Charrière's time at Devil's Island. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet Of The Apes/Patton), Papillon is adapted for the screen by Dalton Trumbo & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from notorious French felon Henri "Papillon" Charrière's own novel. It stars Steve McQueen (Papillon) & Dustin Hoffman (Louis Dega), is primarily shot in Jamaica & Spain with Fred J. Koenekamp (The Towering Inferno) on photography duties and Jerry Goldsmith provides the score. Henri "Papillon" Charrière was a crook, a bad egg, he however was sent to the notorious, inescapable, prison fortress of Devil's Island for a murder he didn't commit. The film, as is the book, is a fictionalised account of Charrière's time at the penal colony. The film is probably best described as being a stirring drama of friendship under duress, endurance and opportunism, all neatly …

John Chard January 27, 2019

★ 9/10

Grim and authentic telling of Henri "Papillon" Charrière's time at Devil's Island. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet Of The Apes/Patton), Papillon is adapted for the screen by Dalton Trumbo & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from notorious French felon Henri "Papillon" Charrière's own novel. It stars Steve McQueen (Papillon) & Dustin Hoffman (Louis Dega), is primarily shot in Jamaica & Spain with Fred J. Koenekamp (The Towering Inferno) on photography duties and Jerry Goldsmith provides the score. Henri "Papillon" Charrière was a crook, a bad egg, he however was sent to the notorious and inescapable prison fortress of Devil's Island for a murder he didn't commit. The film, as is the book, is a fictionalised account of Charrière's time at the penal colony. The film is probably best described as being a stirring drama of friendship under duress, endurance and opportunism, all neatly…

adorablepanic April 9, 2020

★ 9/10

Although present for much of the filming, author Henri Charriere didn't live to see the release of PAPILLON (1973), which was based on his allegedly autobiographical novel. The veracity of what he recounts has been questioned virtually since the books' release in 1969, and the film takes further liberties, leaving one to wonder if this adventure picture is more fiction than fact. What one doesn't have to wonder about, however, are the results achieved by an underrated director at the top of his craft; a bracing Jerry Goldsmith score; marvelous cinematography by Fred Koenekamp; and spot-on performances by Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, and a stellar supporting cast which features some of the best character actors of the period.

Wuchak May 26, 2022

★ 7/10

_**The living hell of a penal colony in equatorial South America during the 30s**_ Henri Charrière’s account of his experiences from 1933-1945 involving the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana, South America, are chronicled, including solitary confinement, escape attempts, dwelling with Goajira Indians (in northeastern Columbia) and living on Devil's Island. Steve McQueen plays Henri, nicknamed Papillon (aka ‘Butterfly’ due to his chest tattoo), while Dustin Hoffman plays his friend Louis Dega. "Papillon" (1973) is a realistic ‘prison film’ and probably more accurate than Charrière’s account based on his memory, which was told to a professional writer some three decades after the events. Keep in mind that Charrière had a reputation for being a great storyteller and the authenticity of a lot of the 560-page book has been seriously challenged. The movie only offer…

CinemaSerf May 27, 2023

★ 7/10

Steve McQueen is superb as unlucky safe-cracker Henri "Papillon" Charrière, an innocent man convicted of murder and sentenced to imprisonment in the French penal colony at French Guiana. Once there, he learns quickly to appreciate the sheer brutality of a prison where any semblance of decency and humanity has been long abandoned. He allies himself with "Dega" (Dustin Hoffman), the rather wealthy, calculating, forger who fully expects his release papers to arrive any day! McQueen agrees to keep an eye on Hoffman meantime, in return for enough funds to enable him to try to escape too. Over the course of their incarceration, they become unlikely friends combatting the harsh, at times lethal, prison regime and trying to keep safe from their equally savage colleagues - each with an axe, of some sort, to grind. I'm not Hoffman's biggest fan, he tends to mimic rather than act - but I'd say tha…

Filipe Manuel Neto April 10, 2024

★ 9/10

**A classic film with a remarkable story and great actors.** This is a work that almost everyone remembers if the theme is films about the prison environment. It's a classic that takes us to a universe of pain, suffering, deprivation and fight against oppression, solidly based on a somewhat autobiographical book by Henri Charriere, called Papillon, a Frenchman who was imprisoned for decades in the penal colony of French Guiana and wrote a book that should be a memoir, but is so full of inventions that it deserves to be considered fiction inspired by real bases. Of course, the issue doesn't matter much to the film: let's forget the man and focus on the character, his alter-ego. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and released in 1973, it was filmed in Spain and Hawaii. And taking into account that the real prison was abandoned, a faithful setting was created in Jamaica, with some shot…