Papillon (1973 film)
| Papillon | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
|
|
| Directed by | Franklin J. Schaffner |
| Produced by |
Robert Dorfmann Franklin J. Schaffner Ted Richmond (executive) |
| Screenplay by |
Dalton Trumbo Lorenzo Semple Jr. |
| Based on |
Papillon by Henri Charrière |
| Starring |
Steve McQueen Dustin Hoffman |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| Edited by | Robert Swink |
| Distributed by |
Allied Artists (USA) Columbia Pictures (Non-USA) |
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Release date
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December 16, 1973 |
|
Running time
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150 minutes |
| Country | United States France |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13.5 million |
| Box office | $53,267,000 |
Papillon is a 1973 historical period drama prison film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. was based on the 1969 autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière. The film stars Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Because it was filmed at remote locations, the film was quite expensive for the time ($12 million), but it earned more than twice that in its first year of release. The film's title is French for "Butterfly," referring to Charrière's tattoo and nickname.
Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), a safecracker nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp. In 1933 he is sentenced to life imprisonment within the penal system in French Guiana. En route, he meets a fellow convict, Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a forger and embezzler who is convinced that his wife will secure his release. Papillon offers to protect Dega if he will underwrite the former's escape once they reach French Guiana. Enduring the horrors of life in a jungle labor camp, the two eventually develop a friendship.
One day, Papillon defends Dega from a sadistic guard and escapes into the jungle, but is captured and sentenced to solitary confinement. In gratitude, Dega has extra food smuggled to Papillon. When the smuggling is discovered, the warden screens Papillon's cell in darkness for six months and cuts his rations in half, believing that it will force him to reveal his benefactor. Though emaciated and half-insane, and reduced to eating insects to survive, Papillon refuses to give up Dega.
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