There’s something to be said for a man with an insatiable will to be free. No matter the circumstances. No matter the odds. Doesn’t exactly make him the brightest bulb in the socket though. Based on the real-life French Convict Henri Charrière’s autobiography, he is nicknamed Papillon for the butterfly tattoo on his chest. Safecracker by trade. Busted for Pimp-killin but it was a fake charge just to lock his ass up. Damn Frenchies. In for Life at the French Guiana penal colony over there in the tropicals off of South America, basically islands of unescapedness. But that willful bastard Papi will NOT be caged!
Papillon (McQueen) hooks up early with Lois Degas (Hoffman) who was busted as the best counterfeiter in France. Money? Pffft! He went big-time with forging fake bonds, cost a lot of people their savings. To the Gulag for him, too! But Papillon sees opportunity. Only way to escape takes money, and he’s busted-ass broke except for a few tools in his prison wallet. Degas on the other hand...a business transaction acceptable to both is made, Protection for a somewhat naive Degas, a boat to freedom for Papi. But it’s not easy for Papillon. In fact, he seems to get fucked over. A lot.
McQueen as Papillon is definitely a singularly driven man. But he’s not completely dead inside, he appreciates his friendship with Degas, who is a bit clueless but accepts his fate for the sins committed. But damn. Crime and Escapings takes a serious toll. Charrière’s “autobiography” might be a little...fictionally embellished, it makes for some decent cinema though, showing the harsh conditions of a 1930s penal colony, the mostly harsh climate surrounding it, and some nuns. Damn. Freakin’ nuns, man. And the Reclusion cells ain’t no joke! Pretty good historical drama, never get your ass thrown into a French penal colony. Or a Turkish prison. But that’s a different story...
