Papillon

PG

Released Dec 16, 1973

2h 30m

Mystery & Thriller

List

72%

32 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Convicted murderer Henri Charriere (Steve McQueen), known as "Papillon" for his butterfly chest tattoo, is transported to French Guiana to serve his sentence in a work camp. Determined to escape, Papillon forms an unlikely relationship with the frail but notorious forger Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), who reluctantly joins in the attempt. Despite the harshness of solitary confinement, brutal conditions and constant threats of betrayal, Papillon leads a desperate escape off the island.

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Paul D. Zimmerman

Newsweek

It is a tournament of brutality unrelieved by imagination.

Feb 10, 2022

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

It drags on for two-and-a-half hours... to show us that the talents of even Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen can be buried under endless restatement of the obvious and that the best of adventure stories can be attenuated into boredom.

Jun 29, 2020

Full Review

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

The narrative is epic and life-spanning...The locations are stunning...and the surreal touches...add to the sense of a highly original art-movie spectacular.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 14, 2018

Full Review

Russell Davies

Observer (UK)

[Papillon] offers the audience-ensuring presence of Steve McQueen in the title role. His Bullitt-head is unlikely to keep them swooning for two-and-a-half hours, however. Not these two-and-a-half hours, anyway.

Sep 27, 2023

Full Review

Michael Billington

Birmingham Post

I must say it left me depressed. The reason is, I think, the film's masochistic delight in pain, degradation and humiliation.

Sep 27, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The film critiques a society, from French penal codes to the larger prison system, that openly endeavors to take away a man's resolve until he is nothing.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 12, 2022

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Paul M

How can it be anything other than 5*s, burned into memory from childhood, a fantastic film

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

pflynn581

Brilliant film adapted from a great book.It makes you question humanity but also restores your faith in it.How people can say it is boring is beyond me.Some of the critics reviews of the time were just plain pretentious.Not watched the remake as my experience of film classic remakes has not been great.Would be hard to better this.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

Nick N

At 2 hours 30 minutes it is a rather long film and as many reviews have already pointed out it does drag somewhat. Rather than concentrate on the negatives which are one its length and 2 The script at times is rather lacking in any substance I'm going to concentrate on the positives. Hoffman steels the show. I've always been a McQueen fan but Hoffman definitely steels the show on this film. Hoffman's character is one that you just can't help but like. From someone who seems pretty hapless and helpless he's the main facilitator of keeping the queen's character a life both physically and mentally. Where is McQueen's role is one of just pure survival pure raw survival instincts. I feel where this film goes wrong is the lack of time together with these two it would have been nice to have seen the bond develop but you don't really get that feeling. And I guess the message at the end without ruining it is no matter how good or bad things may seem or be, if your desire to escape is to escape then so be it. Is Papillon worth the 2.5 hours? There's definitely 30 minutes of this film that could have been erased and would not have made any negative impact in my view. would I recommend this film. Unless you've got a real interest in these two actors and classic movies then probably not you're probably better on watching the remake with Remy Malik as that is coming out as a much better viewing.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

Howard H

Beautiful film, hard to look away. Story is so fascinating with not much wrong anywhere.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/24

Full Review

Georgan G

Could have been better written, as it was long, and in in places downright boring. I think this was more fiction than memoir, but also a story of dreaded circumstances. Dustin Hoffman & Steve McQueen kept me interested and were great character actors.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/23/23

Full Review

Bob P

Steve McQueen is awesome and this is a brutal epic film of an even more brutal penal colony in French New Guinea. It's long and but it holds hour attention throughout. Beautiful cinematography.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Franklin J. Schaffner

Director

Steve McQueen

Henri "Papillon" Charriere

Dustin Hoffman

Louis Dega

Victor Jory

Indian chief

Don Gordon

Julot

Anthony Zerbe

Toussaint Leper Colony chief

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Synopsis

Convicted murderer Henri Charriere (Steve McQueen), known as "Papillon" for his butterfly chest tattoo, is transported to French Guiana to serve his sentence in a work camp. Determined to escape, Papillon forms an unlikely relationship with the frail but notorious forger Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), who reluctantly joins in the attempt. Despite the harshness of solitary confinement, brutal conditions and constant threats of betrayal, Papillon leads a desperate escape off the island.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Producer: Ted Richmond
Screenwriter: Henri Charrière, Dalton Trumbo, Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Distributor: Columbia Tristar, CBS/Fox
Production Co: Solar Productions, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 16, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 1, 2011
Runtime: 2h 30m
Sound Mix: Magnetic Stereo 6 Track

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