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 offers the gist of the real-life account and no doubt got it more accurate.
Whilst cinephiles generally praise the movie other respectable people criticize it, suggesting that the viewer hopes Papillon will escape so that the film will end (lol). I suspect this is mainly due to the long solitary confinement sequences in the first half, which definitely help the viewer grasp what a living hell it would be. Speaking of which, Charrière never said in his account that he ate bugs in solitary confinement or was in total darkness.
The second half is thankfully more adventuresome so, if the miserable solitary confinement sequences tempt you to quit watching, hang in there. There are similarities to McQueen’s earlier “Nevada Smith” (1966), which has a more compelling story.
The film runs 2 hours, 31 minutes, and was shot at various locations in Spain and Jamaica. For instance, the penal colony scenes were filmed in Falmouth, Jamaica. Meanwhile Steve McQueen’s famous cliff-jumping stunt near the end actually took place at cliffs in Maui, Hawaii.
GRADE: B