Papillon

UK Release Date. 14 July 1974
Certification. 15 
Running Time. 2 hours 31 mins
Director. Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast. Dustin Hoffman, Steve McQueen.
Rating. 74%

Review.

Papillon is loosely based on Henri Charrière's semi-autobiographical account of his years incarcerated in the French penal system.

The film begins with Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen) on board a prison vessel bound for French Guiana, where he meets Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), the most famous counterfeiter in France. It becomes immediately apparent that Dega's life is in danger and it is highly unlikely that he will survive the voyage - (a) because a significant number of fellow convicts would appear to have been financially ruined investing in fake National Security Bonds produced by Dega, and (b) because he would appear to be in receipt of a substantial amount of money, concealed about his person.

In striving for authenticity director Franklin J. Schaffner does not flinch from the graphic depiction of the barbaric cruelty meted out to the prisoners of St-Laurent-du-Maroni, the notorious penal colony where the French sent convicts until 1946. A harrowing odyssey, Papillon offers a truly exhausting viewer experience and once again we are reminded that there is no level of inhumanity to which mankind will not stoop in the name of justice.  

Yet ultimately, Papillon lives or dies on the believability of the relationship between Henri Charrière and Louis Dega - one, a restless spirit, and one, a gentle intellectual. While Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman both offer arresting portrayals of two men driven to the absolute limits of endurance, I routinely struggled to appreciate the strength of the relationship, especially as both of the characters spend so much time apart. 

Papillon is far more than a film about one man trying to escape from a prison. Like Cool Hand Luke, Midnight Express and The Shawshank Redemption, it is a work that depicts the worst and best that humanity is capable of. At the time, Papillon was one of cinema's most powerful representations of the resilience of the human spirit. While the audience is meant to take joy in Henri Charrière's strength of character, proof of a spirit that could not be broken - "Hey, you bastards, I'm still here" - I just wish I cared a wee bit more.