Papillon (1973) - film review

In the 1930s, a large group of prisoners are shipped from France to a tough penal colony in French Guiana.  The party includes convicted murderer Henri Charrière, nicknamed Papillon, and big time stock swindler Louis Dega.  Life in the penal colony is brutal and, for many, mercifully short.  But Papillon has no intention of dying here.  Learning that Dega has concealed a large quantity of money on his person, he befriends him so that he can use his money to buy a boat that will take him off the island.  When his first attempt at escape fails, Papillon ends up in solitary confinement, which he endures with almost inhuman stoicism.  This degrading experience only hardens Papillon’s resolve to escape...

This stunning adaptation of Henri Charrière’s best selling semi-autobiographical novel afforded Steve McQueen one of his greatest film roles and is among cinema’s most powerful representations of the resilience of the human spirit.  In his striving for authenticity, director Franklin J. Schaffner does not flinch from showing the extent of the horrors of Devil’s Island, the notorious penal colony where the French sent their convicts until 1946.  With its graphic depiction of the barbaric cruelty meted out to the prisoners in this Hell on Earth, the film offers a truly gruelling 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.

Franklin J. Schaffner was renowned for the epic quality and gritty realism he brought to his films, first in the sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes (1968), then in the biographical drama Patton (1970).  Here, in what is arguably his best film, he delivers a work that is both harrowing to watch yet searing in its humanity, a major technical accomplishment which is suffused with a stark lyrical poignancy.   Schaffner’s inspired directorial skill is matched by the contributions from his talented cast, with particularly memorable turns from Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, both at their best in their arresting portrayal of two men driven to the absolute limits of endurance.   Papillon is far more than just a film about one man trying to escape from prison.  It is a work that, with grim uncompromising realism, shows us the worst and best that humanity is capable of – a potent morality tale that makes a lasting impression.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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