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Papillon [1974]
from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
starring Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe
directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Features:

• Anamorphic
• Dubbed
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

Franklin J Schaffner's Papillon is quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as thrilling as The Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic as The Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is nevertheless unparalleled. Significantly, the only characters to display any real kindness in this film are the social outcasts: the lepers and native Indians; everyone else has been corrupted and debased by the true villain, the penal system itself. Based on Henri Charrière' s heavily fictionalised "autobiography", the film's timeless themes of man's insatiable desire for freedom and the indomitability of the human spirit are thankfully not dependent for their impact on the source material's veracity. Dalton Trumbo's liberal-minded screenplay echoes the themes of his earlier script for Spartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biography Patton) is fully equal to the task of realising it on screen. The director's painterly eye for widescreen composition and his careful pacing impart a gravitas to proceedings even during the film's most squalid depictions of brutality, of which there are many emphasising the cheapness of human life among the convicts and their equally criminal prison guards in the penal colony of French Guiana. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman form a remarkable screen pairing, with Hoffman outstanding as the pusillanimous Dega. McQueen magnificently overcomes his tough-guy persona in the extraordinary solitary confinement sequences as he is gradually reduced to a shambling, cockroach-eating wreck. Longtime collaborator Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously scored Schaffner's Planet of the Apes and Patton, attained yet another career high with his music.

On the DVD: The anamorphic widescreen print of the original Panavision 2. 35:1 ratio looks fine without being as stunning as some more modern prints; the Dolby 5.1 audio does however do great service to Jerry Goldsmith's score, which can also be selected separately from the Audio Setup menu as an isolated track (note that there's no music at all in the first 20 minutes of the film). The 12-minute "Magnificent Rebel" featurette was made at the time of the film's release , and includes some fascinating footage of Henri Charrière touring the prison se t, reminiscing about his experiences and pontificating ("Society does not want free men, society wants conditioned men"). --Mark Walker

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• An Epic Tale ....
  This film had a huge impact on me when I watched it growing up. Yes it is a long film and at times it is heavy going but stick with it. Amazing performances from McQueen and Hoffman. This is the greatest true story of escape ever told. The ending is the most moving, sad and thought provoking I've seen in a film. Long after the credits have gone you will still have Papillon in your head. They don't make films like this anymore.

• Pap
  Overwrought, over intense, over squalid psychological drama about two convicts coming to terms with their sentence on a harsh island penal colony. Pretentious, a bit pointless, and not at all where cinema should be directing its energy. It comes from a little 3 or 4 year period where films of this type became fashionable with directors, though god knows why.

• Disappointing fim (but interesting documentary!)
  The director of this film stated clearly that his intention was simply "to entertain", so it would be unfair to carp that it is not faithful to Henri Charriere's autobiography (particularly when there has been doubt cast on whether Charriere's account is entirely true!) However, it seems to me to be obvious that the alterations made for dramatic purposes should actually improve the story! Instead, the changes made render the film less exciting, and less satisfying than the book - when considered purely on... more info

• Bleak but brilliant
  A pretty stark depiction of the human spirit and how quickly normal people can become dehumanised by their conditions, but balanced out by the characters played by McQueen and Hoffman (together with the chaacters that come into the story and help them out). It's not always the actions of the prisoners that are brutal either, the establishment - both guards and civilians - are also portrayed in a damming light. Brilliant acting from McQueen and Hoffman as they are able to pick up their characters and bring... more info

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