Papillon

Media:	DVD
Directed by:	Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring:	Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman
Release date:	14 December, 1999
List price:	~~$19.98~~
Our price:	$17.40 that is 13% off!

Papillon

Average rating: Stars

McQueen Solid in So-So Affair

The pluses here are the music score and cinematography are excellent. The minus here is that this film just meanders. The establishing sequences showing the abuses and horrible conditions in the French penal colony border on overkill. Papillon's escape from the prison isn't very thrilling. What elevates this film is Steve McQueen's work in the title role. McQueen captures the essence of a determined man who may or may not have been wrongfully accused of murder in his efforts to escape an unjust imprisonment. McQueen is such a solid presence here that the sheer power of his performance overcomes the ridiculous old-age make-up he has to wear in the film's latter sequences. Dustin Hoffman is on hand here as a counterfeitor and Papillon's best friend. He's not bad but this isn't one of Hoffman's more memorable roles.

Papillon - Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman

ZzZzZzZ...

after wasting 3 or so hours watching this film i feel as if it is the single dumbest film ever made, Now don't get me wrong the acting of Steve McQueen and Mr. Dustin Hoffman were simply amazing but just the story of the show was so boring and i do understand it is a true story but leave it at that, god bless butterfly boy and good for him for making it to freedom but no need to make such a boring story into a movie or even a book.

Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman - Papillon

Epic prison movie about a falsely accused man

Papillon is a safecracker wrongly accused and convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison at a Devil's Island in Guiana, South America. He's determined to escape before he even reaches the island hiding a shiv (knife) and money. While on the boat over to the penal colony Papillon offers to protect the mousey Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman)who's carrying money to bribe the guards for various items once he's at the colony. The two strike up a surprising friendship as Papillon plans his eventual escape from prison.

A fine film from featuring strong performances from the unlikely duo of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, "Papillon" isn't director Frankl J. Schaffner ("Planet of the Apes", "Patton", "The War Lord")best film but still packs considerable wallop. The film (for its time) was brutal in its depiction of prison life in the French penal colony system. Supposedly writer Henri Charriere based ont he novel on events from his life although I suspect that much of it is fiction. It's nevertheless powerful fiction.

The languid pace of the film may not be to everyone's liking; Schaffner shoots for the pacing (in a sense using pacing to recreate the stifling heat and humidity)of films like "The Bride on the River Kwai". Featuring a number of marvelous performances including Anthony Zerbe as Toussaint the Leper Colony chief and Bill Mumy ("Lost in Space") as Lariot, it clearly was an inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shawkshank Redemption" (and Frank Darabont's film).

The transfer here appears to be the same one that appeared in the 2000. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, the image quality is still exceptionally good although the image is occasionally soft. There's also analog flaws due to the source print (and, in turn, probably due to the original negative). The film comes with a vintage "Making of" featurette. It's a pity that Hoffman wasn't asked to do a commentary track as I'd be fascinated to find out about the behind-the-scenes shooting from an actor's perspective. The sound while solid suffers from low volume and sometimes the dialog can be a bit indistinct. On the whole, though, the soundtrack has nice detail and comes across with nice clarity for most of the movie. Remastered for 5.1, "Papillon" the surround speakers don't get the work out one would expect from a brand new film but the film still sounds nice.

Featuring a terrific screenplay by Dalton Trumbo ("Spartacus", "Johnny Got His Gun", "Exodus") and Lorenzo Semple Jr. ("Three Days of the Condor", "The Drowning Pool", "The Parallax View") even if the story is primarily fiction (as is now claimed), it's a powerful drama. Keep in mind that the pace for this epic prison drama is quite slow throughout most of the movie. A bit of trivia is that Dustin Hoffman based on performance of Louis on Dalton Trumbo himself after they met to discuss working on the film.

This film is also now available as part of Warner Home Video's superb "Steve McQueen Collection" which also includes a remastered deluxe edition of "Bullitt", "Tom Horn" and a couple of other classic McQueen classics. If you have the previous edition of this classic movie I can't see necessarily upgrading unless you want the snapcase to store the movie in.