SYNOPSIS

Henri Charriere, nicknamed Papillon because of the large blue butterfly tattoo on his chest, is convicted of killing a pimp and sentenced to a long term in the French penal colonies in Guyana. On the way he befriends Dega, a notorious convicted forger who has money hidden away and the ability to bribe himself into a cushier existence in the prison. Through the years, Papillon becomes protector to the smaller, meeker Dega, while Dega helps Papillon with his influence and money. Soon after arriving at the prison work camp, Papillon attempts escape but is quickly captured by bounty hunters and sentenced to an additional two years in solitary confinement. Dega smuggles him coconuts for nutrition, but when the commandant discovers it, Papillon refuses to name his old friend and is placed on half rations with no sunlight for six months. Released from solitary, Papillon again attempts escape and almost succeeds, encountering along the way a colony of lepers, a friendly nomadic tribe who takes him in, and a double-crossing Mother Superior who turns him over to the authorities. He endures five more years in solitary and is finally sent to the "inescapable" Devil's Island. He is reunited with his old friend and the two live a spare but somewhat idyllic existence in little cabins, nourished by Dega's garden and domesticated animals. But Papillon, now an old man, cannot let go of his quest for freedom. He makes one last daring escape attempt.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Producer: Ted Richmond, Franklin J. Schaffner, Robert Dorfmann
Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo, Lorenzo Semple, Jr., based on the book by Henri Charriere
Cinematography: Fred Koenekamp
Editing: Robert Swink
Art Direction: Jack Maxsted
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast: Steve McQueen (Henri "Papillon" Charriere), Dustin Hoffman (Louis Dega), Victor Jory (Chief), Anthony Zerbe (Leper), Don Gordon (Julot), Bill Mumy (Lariot).
C-121m. Letterboxed.

Why Papillon is Essential

Henri Charriere's autobiography of his time in the French Guyanese penal colonies and amazing escape from Devil's Island was a natural for a screen adaptation, filled as it was with not only daring adventures but great themes of the human spirit triumphing over dire hardships. Production on the movie, however, was so plagued with difficulties it's remarkable the film was ever made. It's even more remarkable that it became a box office hit. From the beginning, there were financial problems that arose when the picture's budget kept inflating, saved only by a major investment from Allied Artists, which took over distribution rights. But the film had the good fortune to be directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, a recent Academy Award winner for Patton (1970) and no stranger to big-budget productions of epic adventures with grand historical sweep.

It was Schaffner's intelligence and restraint that kept the film off the action/spectacle track and made it a compelling portrayal of one man's quest for freedom under the most arduous and impossible of circumstances. In this he was ably assisted by the film's star, Steve McQueen, who had the personal approval of Charriere himself. In his brief career (he died of lung cancer in 1980 at the age of 50), McQueen established himself as a major star and an actor who specialized in laconic, brooding men of action. Bringing a new range and sensitivity, even an almost impish charm, to this role, McQueen turned in one of his best performances as Papillon.

What could have been a mistake brought on by box office considerations turned out to be a benefit to the picture as well. Dustin Hoffman at this time was as big a star as McQueen, with such movies as The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Little Big Man (1970) under his belt. He was added to the film to assure its success, and he and McQueen played beautifully off each other, with Hoffman's compactness and chattering nervous energy the perfect counterpoint to McQueen's stoic strength. In an era when male buddy pictures were all the rage, the stars portray what is essentially a great love story between two very different men who respect and care for each other under the worst conditions.

The story risked turning audiences off with such gruesome details as a guillotined head splattering blood on the camera lens and the eating of bugs to augment a meager prison diet, but Schaffner kept the film from being a sensationalist exercise in horror by his focus on Papillon's relentless determination and his relationship with the little forger played by Hoffman. In spite of the huge costs, the movie quickly recouped its investment and then some. What audiences responded to, and what they still love about the movie, are not just the action set pieces but the very human story of one man's persistent spirit in the face of isolation and emotional and physical degradation.

by Rob Nixon