Papillon

Franklin J. Schaffner had an incredible run in the late '60s/early '70s. Planet of the Apes (1968) proved an unusually cerebral sci-fi film, while Patton (1970) won a boatload of Oscars. Even the overstuffed Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) has its moments. Matching them is Papillon (1973), an absorbing blend of prison drama, adventure movie and character study.

Henri Charriere (Steve McQueen), known as Papillon for a butterfly tattoo, is convicted for murder and sentenced to imprisonment in French Guiana. Charriere proves grimly determined to escape against impossible odds: the prison is heavily guarded, swarming with wildlife and "a thousand miles from anywhere." Befriending counterfeiter Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), Charriere hatches various escape plans which are foiled by the guards or informers. Even after years in solitary confinement and banishment to Devil's Island, Charriere won't give up his dream.

Drawing on Charriere's autobiographical novel, Papillon mixes thrills with drama. Schaffner's direct, unfussy style proves an ideal fit, capturing the high adventure with beautiful photography and rousing action scenes. Fred Koenekamp's photography contrasts the verdant jungle with raging seas and the stark, utilitarian prison compounds. Despite its 150 minute length and a few cliched passages (how many movie heroes take refuge with friendly, sexually willing natives?) Papillon engages from beginning to end.

For all its escapist thrills, Papillon is notably grim. French Guiana encapsulates man's inhumanity to man, with summary executions, suicides and bounty hunters matched by natural perils. Papillon rivals attritional epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Mountains of the Moon, with prisoners battling heat and disease, along with crabs, crocodiles, snakes and vampire bats. The most memorable sequence, however, has Papillon languishing in solitary, eating cockroaches and going nuts in the dark. Even if Papi and Louis's only visible trauma is stubble and gray hair it feels grim. Cool Hand Luke's prison farm seems genteel in comparison.

Writers Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. do fine work probing their protagonists. Charriere protests his innocence but admits he's guilty of "a wasted life"; his quest to escape becomes an end to itself, a means of self-fulfillment. Degas tries to play the system, bribing guards with smuggled francs and becoming a clerk, hoping for a legal pardon. Neither man has much chance of success: Charriere from the elements, Degas by his conniving lawyer and angry fraud victims among prisoners and guards. They make an interesting contrast and drive the movie's action, forging an unlikely friendship under duress.

Steve McQueen gives one of his best turns, tough, grimly determined and endlessly resourceful. Dustin Hoffman's cerebral underplaying provides a good match. They're backed by a gallery of interesting supporting players: Anthony Zerbe's cynical leper, George Coulouris's doctor-murderer, Robert Deman's homosexual escapee, Victor Jory's Indian chief.

Papillon makes an immensely well-crafted movie. It's relatively straightforward yet extremely entertaining.