Papillon (1973)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mike S

  
  What greater escape from boredom, than watching two of the finest actors in Hollywood history, making their own grand escape from the shackles of imprisonment. There's just something about these kind of epic prison dramas, that always manages to capture every ounce of my… More
  What greater escape from boredom, than watching two of the finest actors in Hollywood history, making their own grand escape from the shackles of imprisonment. There's just something about these kind of epic prison dramas, that always manages to capture every ounce of my attention. And speaking of great escapes, this is also the first film I've ever seen starring Steve McQueen. Now I could finally see for myself what I've been hearing and reading about for years - and he is indeed an extraordinary actor. As for the technical achievements of the film, there's more praise to be given here than I have the time to administer. But to highlight some of the essentials, it really made an impression on me with its marvellously written script. Every piece of dialogue has been given a lot of thought and consideration, and right from its very first scene it really pulled me in. Visually, there's much to revel in as well. Although the situations the characters find themselves in are often harsh and extremely brutal, many of the locations they travel to are really mesmerizing to the eyes. An unforgettable piece of cinema, supremely directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Not to forget Fred J. Koenekamp, whose outstanding cinematography is one of the film's most pleasant components. Appreciators of the prison genre - and great dramatic work in general - owe it to themselves to see this lush and heart-gripping classic. Personally, I loved every minute, and that's coming from someone who is usually not a fan of films from the 1970's. A fantastic, triumphant and beautifully crafted motion picture, that can be enjoyed regardless of which generation you belong to. Truly a must-see!

• xGary X

  
  A true story based on the life of an infamous safecracker played by Steve McQueen, who is sent to a notorious French prison colony and forms a close bond with fellow internee Dustin Hoffman as he plans his escape. Papillon is one of those prestige films that was probably made with one… More
  A true story based on the life of an infamous safecracker played by Steve McQueen, who is sent to a notorious French prison colony and forms a close bond with fellow internee Dustin Hoffman as he plans his escape. Papillon is one of those prestige films that was probably made with one eye on the Oscars. An almost unrecognisable McQueen sheds his action hero image to play the harrowed, down trodden but ultimately unbreakable Papillon and produced probably his best performance. Hoffman adds a suitably expert performance as his physically weak but wily sidekick and from a technical point of view, there's not much that can be faulted. My only reservation is in the fact that because we knew little about these characters and who they were before they reached their prison, I found it difficult to form an emotional attachment to them; sure I was harrowed and inspired on cue, but I never really forgot that I was watching a film complete with all the usual elements you'd expect. Definitely worth it to see two Hollywood legends at the top of their game though.

• familiar s

  
  I was drawn towards it because of its high IMDb rating and all the more because it's based on real life events. However, the length of the movie is too long for its own good. It's interesting to wait and watch the strategy the protagonists adopt for their escape and whether… More
  I was drawn towards it because of its high IMDb rating and all the more because it's based on real life events. However, the length of the movie is too long for its own good. It's interesting to wait and watch the strategy the protagonists adopt for their escape and whether they succeed or not, but it drags the scenes needlessly time and again. The movie is executed in such a way that you begin to yawn at regular intervals. It could have been way better with appropriate editing. However, Dustin Hoffman gives an excellent performance along with Steve McQueen.

• Chris G

  
  I was haunted while watching Papillon. When Papillon (Steve McQueen) is stuck in solitary confinement, I kept thinking back to the Cooler King from The Great Escape. Shockingly, I discovered that Nazi were more humane than French colonists in Guyana. Weird, huh? Papillon follows the… More
  I was haunted while watching Papillon. When Papillon (Steve McQueen) is stuck in solitary confinement, I kept thinking back to the Cooler King from The Great Escape. Shockingly, I discovered that Nazi were more humane than French colonists in Guyana. Weird, huh? Papillon follows the prison term of the title character, nicknamed for the butterfly tattoo on his chest. Sent to Devils Island for life Papillon strikes a deal with Dega (Dustin Hoffman) that in exchange for protection Dega will finance an escape attempt. Dega is loaded and carries his money in a new fangled prison wallet called his ass. Talk about money in need of laundering. The film continues to be one screw job after another as the innocent Papillon tries to get off of Devil's Island. You can see the complaints some people may have with this film. Sure McQueen and Hoffman have little chemistry, but on screen it's basically a business arrangement that turns into a strained friendship because of all the failures the pair go through. A massive film directed by Patton's Franklin Schaffner Papillon does drag in some points, particularly the solitary scenes. These could be considered too much, but McQueen really expresses the role of the anti-Cooler King, ready to break and eating insects in the dark. It's too long because any kind of confinement is too long. Really, Papillon isn't the Great Escape II. It's more of the breaking of men in the middle of the jungle. I can't forget another piece of casting brilliance with Vic Tayback playing a French guard. Dingy!

• Anthony L

  
  Beautiful and faultless! Cinema at its very best!

• Phil H

  
  I saw this as a kid, I was brought up on classic cinema, and it was amazing, it drew me in and haunted me, it makes you wanna know more about the story, Charriere and Devil Island. Based on fact, makes it even more scary and fantastic, the story is simple, escaping from Devils Island.… More
  I saw this as a kid, I was brought up on classic cinema, and it was amazing, it drew me in and haunted me, it makes you wanna know more about the story, Charriere and Devil Island. Based on fact, makes it even more scary and fantastic, the story is simple, escaping from Devils Island. The violence is ultra nasty and makes you sweat, the situations are tense and bring you to the edge of your seat, and the locations, yet beautiful, are deadly and full of surprises. The life of Papillon is brutal and makes you learn to trust no one. Rats, pay offs and pay back are all the order of the day in this harrowing tale. The flick looks epic, the casting is classic and its not too predictable. It will stay with you long after it ends.

• Pierluigi P

  
  McQueen and Hoffman are marvelous in this sad but in the end exciting and uplifting prison drama.

• Jennifer X

  
  The grimmest depiction of prison life that makes the likes of Shawshank and The Green Mile seem overly contrived and Hollywood. Because we are given very little information about the prisoners' lives prior to being dumped in Guyana, it is imperative for Steve McQueen and Dustin… More
  The grimmest depiction of prison life that makes the likes of Shawshank and The Green Mile seem overly contrived and Hollywood. Because we are given very little information about the prisoners' lives prior to being dumped in Guyana, it is imperative for Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman to give strong performances to make up for it. And they do. I think this is what it means to disappear into a character. Overlong, though.

• Luke B

  
  There's something about prison/war camp movies that just gets me all sucked in to the narrative. Perhaps it's the manliness of it all and the male bonding handled in the most masculine of ways. Like the Great Escape this is a tale of hope and like The Shawshank Redemption… More
  There's something about prison/war camp movies that just gets me all sucked in to the narrative. Perhaps it's the manliness of it all and the male bonding handled in the most masculine of ways. Like the Great Escape this is a tale of hope and like The Shawshank Redemption this is a tale of...wait for it...redemption. McQueen is obviously innocent, otherwise whom would we place our faith with? He's aided by geeky Hoffman and the two make quite a pair. They act off each spectacularly and never try and outdo eacy other. Hoffman feeling quite at ease with a supporting role. He literally supports McQueen at one point, as a deal between the two turns into something more. Real friendship, where risking their lives and going out on a limb is the norm. The two are inseparable. The scene where the two try and work out how to deal with a crocodile is hilariously endearing. The two actors obviously gelled as well off screen as they do on. The film has some excellent escape attempts but the photography here is mainly used to capture nature. Crabs, bugs, bats all make symbolic appearances with the jungle and soon rearing it's ugly head as the true captor of our protagonists. See it for the acting, stay for the gripping story. Moving, cruel and very VERY well executed.

• Curtis L

  
  Awesome. One of the better escape movies out there for sure. Very interesting situations (for once it's not about vietnam or WW2). Also pretty sad how much crap happens to them.

• Lady D

  
  A bit drawn out, but an extremely enjoyable film. Performance by both were great, but Steve McQueen's role was pretty outstanding. For the age of this film, they dealt with some of the topics really well and the make up for Steve McQueen though his punishment, is a pretty… More
  A bit drawn out, but an extremely enjoyable film. Performance by both were great, but Steve McQueen's role was pretty outstanding. For the age of this film, they dealt with some of the topics really well and the make up for Steve McQueen though his punishment, is a pretty amazing transformation. VERDICT: One of the best older films I've seen, definitely recommend it.

• Red L

  
  I saw this for the first time in June 2007 on the History channel. The movie is interesting, but the last half is not as interesting as the first. Steve McQueen's makeup is pretty spectacular. I can't imagine solitary confinement for all those years.

• Daniel P

  
  The three stars are for Dustin Hoffman, effectively: this is one of his most interesting and enduring characters, for sure, and without him, the film is barely worth watching. This movie has some great shots, but the dialogue is pretty rough, and I just can't seem to care how… More
  The three stars are for Dustin Hoffman, effectively: this is one of his most interesting and enduring characters, for sure, and without him, the film is barely worth watching. This movie has some great shots, but the dialogue is pretty rough, and I just can't seem to care how reckless, dedicated or tough Steve McQueen's character is - he just seems so unfeeling the whole time that it's hard to really get behind any of his escape plots.

• Mister C

  
  Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in the roles of their careers. And a grand classic of the 1970's

• Burger S

  
  To younger film enthusiasts, this film might start out slow. No, it does not have hundreds of millions of dollars in special effects, but even someone the casually spectator watching this film gets wrapped up the characters' struggle survive and endure inhumane punishment.

• Mike T

  
  Authentic, gritty film that makes good use of Hoffman and McQueen's acting talents. The cinematography is fantastic and the editing is just as impressive. One excellent movie that is often overlooked.

• Andre T

  
  Based on the best selling novel by French ex-convict Henri Charrière. The film was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starred Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Due to the exotic locations, this claustrophobic movie provides to… More
  Based on the best selling novel by French ex-convict Henri Charrière. The film was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starred Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Due to the exotic locations, this claustrophobic movie provides to the audience the true story of Henri Charriere with fellow inmate Louis Dega while they are serving a sentence on Devil's Island, a hellish, notorious island prison and he plots his escape.In my oppinion this is the best performance of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.The main musical theme is beautiful in this state of art movie.

• MJS M

  
  This movie is something of a classic and it stars two of my favorite actors, so why did it take so long for me to see it? Well a big part of it was probably the title, I didn?t know what the hell a ?papillon? was and it didn?t intrigue me too much. Also the DVD of the movie has a… More
  This movie is something of a classic and it stars two of my favorite actors, so why did it take so long for me to see it? Well a big part of it was probably the title, I didn?t know what the hell a ?papillon? was and it didn?t intrigue me too much. Also the DVD of the movie has a rather dull brown picture on it which just wasn?t very eye catching. So what?s a ?pappillon?? Well it?s the main character?s nick name, he?s a French rogue (Steve McQueen) who?s found himself sent to a South American Penal colony which make Oz (the HBO series) look like Oz (the one with the wizard). There he meets a locked up, but very wealthy counterfeiter (Dustin Hoffman) who may be able to help him escape. There?s some stuff to admire about the movie, but overall I was kind of lukewarm about it. Mainly I don?t think the McQueen/Hoffman pairing was everything it could have been. Both deliver good performances but I didn?t see much chemistry between the two. McQueen was acting like a movie star while Hoffman was acting like a character actor and these styles didn?t really mesh tremendously. The other problem was possibly the film?s aggressive unpleasantness. The general purpose of this movie seems to be showing in meticulous detail just how crappy this penal colony was. And show you this it does, in every prison guard beating, ration taking away, labor intensive detail. It also chronicles this for a very long time. After all, why show Steve McQueen suffer for two hours when you can show him suffer for two and a half? This is sort of what The Great Escape would have been like if the people who made it really really really didn?t want the audience to enjoy their movie. That said, the camera work here is impressive, and the two actors work is individually impressive. It has that traditional Hollywood style of filmmaking that can work in spades when employed right. In fact the whole thing feels like a bit of an anachronism at times, something that would have fit in better during the late sixties than the New Hollywood early seventies. As far as movies of this genre go I?d say this is all right. It just doesn?t hold up particularly well against other hellish prison movies like The Shawshank Redemption, Midnight Express, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest

• Daisy M

  
  Two great actors Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen are able to present you disappointment, happiness, loyalty, patience, hope, insanity, friendship and depression perfectly in this classic movie Papillon. Every single scene in the picture has a lot of things to say to you. You might… More
  Two great actors Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen are able to present you disappointment, happiness, loyalty, patience, hope, insanity, friendship and depression perfectly in this classic movie Papillon. Every single scene in the picture has a lot of things to say to you. You might get emotionally when watching this movie, specially the prison scenes. Once you have seen this film it is hard to ever forget it. A true classic. It may be a little long and slow paced at times. I gave this movie some high recommendations.

• Marcus W

  
  The story of an innocent man sent to a harsh prison where he becomes friends with another inmate, all the while planning his escape. Yep, comparisons with Shawshank are inevitable, and although this one came first it can't compare. Steve McQueen is very good and the scenes with… More
  The story of an innocent man sent to a harsh prison where he becomes friends with another inmate, all the while planning his escape. Yep, comparisons with Shawshank are inevitable, and although this one came first it can't compare. Steve McQueen is very good and the scenes with him in solitary are brilliant but then the film seems to continually jump. One minute he's escaping, then he's being helped by a stranger, then by some lepers then he spends some time with natives, then he goes to a convent then he's sent back again. With some serious editting and a good 40 minutes chopped off, this film could be brilliant.

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