Papillon

Ten years after Steve McQueen made his name in The Great Escape, he stepped into the role of Henri “Papillon” Charriere, the real-life French safecracker with a butterfly (“papillon” in French) tattooed on his chest, who was convicted of murder (unjustly, he maintained) and served time in the infamous prison colonies of French Guiana, including the legendary Devil's Island. Based on Charriere's memoir, the 1973 film is neither action spectacle nor cliffhanger thriller; instead, director Franklin J. Schaffner—working from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr.—focuses on the texture of Charriere's experience, from the dungeon-like cell on a prison ship, to the insect-infected swamps and humid atmosphere of jungle work detail, to the isolation and depravation of solitary confinement. At the center of the story is the unlikely friendship between Papillon and notorious forger Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a bespectacled and physically meek but intellectually savvy man who underwrites Papillon's escape attempts with smuggled money—in return for Papillon's protection against aggressors. Brought together by horrific circumstances, the two end up risking their lives to help one another through a long ordeal in an unforgiving tropical environment. From start to finish, Papillon is a powerful study, a superb example of '70s filmmaking. Presented in a 32-page digi-book package, Blu-ray extras include an archival promotional featurette. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)