Papillon

Released: 1973
Drama, Biography
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman
Rated: PG
Running Time: 151 minutes

The breakdown:
Based on a true story of the life of Henri Charriere, this stunning drama will keep you riveted.

Henri Charriere, who is also known as Papillon, which is French for butterfly, is an imprisoned petty criminal, who has always claimed innocence.  Whether this is true or not is never realized in the film or real life.
Anyway, in France he's accused and convicted of murder and sentenced to life in a penal colony in French Guiana, South America.  He must travel by boat to these 3 tiny islands in the middle of nowhere to fulfill his sentence.  While on the boat there he makes friends with Dega, who is small and weak.  Papillon agrees to protect him from others as Papillon is in great shape, tall, and tan.

Dega is supposed to be a renowned counterfeiter and is said to have hidden a large amount of money before he was arrested.  Most of the other criminals want to kill him and I guess take his money, though I'm not sure how they would know where to find it, if it exists at all.

When they get to the islands, some men can't handle the idea of living there and either fake injuries to get into the hospital, or one simply walks out into the ocean until he is shot dead.

At the camp, they are told the first attempt to escape means two years of solitary confinement, the second attempt, five years of solitary, and on the third, guillotine.  At the end of the announcement a prisoner is walked out and executed in front of them.

This movie tells an unbelievable tale of Papillon trying to escape from this island prison over the course of many years.  It's even more unbelievable if he was innocent all along.

In all honesty, I had no interest in watching this film, but after a few minutes, I was hooked and had to know what was going to happen to Dega and Papillon with all their plans of fleeing.

It was hard to imagine someone going through the experiences the prisoners did on the islands.  Very difficult things had to be done to survive in some instances and I really don't know if Papillon was guilty, but it felt like he wasn't.  He might've been a petty criminal, but not a killer, certainly not deserving the kind of punishment he suffered in this film.

I won't say anymore about the plot because you should really be shocked for yourself, but it's a good film.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.