Papillon, Review: Watchable remake of impressive 1973 prison escape saga

A hard act to follow, Papillon 2017 finds release a year after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Michael Noer and starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, reprising the roles of late Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in the original made 44 years earlier, this prison escape epic nearly manages to match the original, but the operative word here is “nearly”.

Based on the international best-selling autobiographic books, Papillon and Banco, the film follows the epic story of Henri “Papillon” Charrière (Charlie Hunnam), a safe-cracker from the Parisian underworld, who is framed for murder by his gang boss for keeping a part of the booty for himself, and sent to jail in Cayenne, French Guiana. He is so called because of a butterfly tattoo on his chest. After attempting to escape from there, he is transferred and condemned to life in solitary confinement in the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island, a small mass of land surrounded by the vast ocean, from where escape would be inconceivable.

Determined to regain his freedom, Papillon has already formed an unlikely alliance with a convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who has hidden a fortune, concealing it in an unmentionable part of his body, and in exchange for protection from attacks by fellow prison inmates and prison staff, agrees to finance Papillon’s escape. Sure enough, Dega is attacked and Papillon saves him. Initially reluctant to join Papillon, Dega is finally convinced about the viability of Papillion’s plan, and the two form a team, which soon grows to a four member unit.

Henri Charrière was born in 1906 and died in July 29, 1973. Besides being a safecracker, he was a thief, and a pimp in Paris. He was arrested and convicted in 1931 of murdering a Montmartre gangster-pimp, Roland Legrand. Charrière always denied the charge. His first escape, in 1934, was made in an open boat in which he drifted 2,900 km to Maracaibo where he lived with some jungle Indians, but was caught and shipped to Devil’s Island. He tried to escapes eight more times, and succeeded on the last attempt, floating away on a coconut raft (1944), and settled in Venezuela. At the age of 62, in 1968, he wrote Papillon, which was published the following year in France. It was made into a film in 1973, the very year of his death.

In 1970, the French minister of justice issued a decree of grace, removing legal restrictions on Charrière’s return to France. In 1972, he published an autobiographical sequel, Banco. Papillon’s screenplay is by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband, Prisoners—which was not about prison or prison break), and also relies upon the efforts of Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr., who worked on the 1973 outing. The ten odd breakout attempts have been justifiably compacted into composite two, and take 133 minutes to narrate. Imagine the length that would have been required to document all ten, and the ennui that would have crept in during the process!

Director Franklin J. Schaffner's 1973 film version included a decapitation with blood spurting onto the lens of the camera, cockroaches eaten to supplement the prison diet, and a hand-to-hand encounter with a crocodile. The decapitation, actually a guillotine used on a prisoner after his escape attempt and killing of a guard, none of the other elements find place in the latest incarnation, which makes much of a coconut smuggled into Papillon’s cell and the heavy price he has to pay for that favour.

While the foursome want freedom, there is another prisoner who is so desperate to avoid incarceration that he deliberately injures his leg, is taken to hospital and then decapitated/guillotined, after being caught trying to make a getaway. The script does deal with components like prison sanitation, nudity and homosexuality, but these are key to the subject. Perhaps the male nudity could have been avoided. Locales are well utilised, always emanating the right ambience for the scenes.

Sticking to his subject with singular dedication, director Michael Noer does away with the desire to show what happens after Papillon reaches Venezuela. In one brief scene, the concluding chapter of the film is conveyed through just dialogue. Problem is, you do feel sympathy for Papillon because he was framed, but he was no saint by any means. Likewise, there are so many prisoners and prison staff who all represent very dark colours. Particularly ruthless are the prison Warden and Deputy Warden, and a hulk of a man who attacks and exploits prisoners like a hungry wild beast. One scene where Papillon keeps a finger on his lips while being beaten black and blue, during solitary confinement, stands out.

Merciless beating, rape and killing are the order of the day, and you might keep looking hard to find one white character in this black tragedy, among thieves, pimps, prostitutes, topless bar-girls, gang-lords, counterfeiters, murderers, opportunists, sadistic prison staff, inconsiderate nuns and more. The only positive contents are the bonding between the wannabe escapees and the hope that keeps Papillon going.

English actor Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, The Lost City of Z, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), who has a noticeable similarity to Steve McQueen, plays Papillion, from the age of about 25 to 65, and carries the metamorphoses well. The quiet intensity, the brute strength and the insistence on “no killing” are well connveyed through his body and expressions. Son of Egyptian immigrants, Rami Said Malik (Need for Speed, Museum trilogy, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn II) does not resemble Dustin Hoffman, having a squarish visage as compared to Dustin’s more rounded face. But why should there be similarity, in any case? By the same yardstick, it does not matter that McQueen and Hoffman might not have looked like the persons they portrayed, for Charrière and Dega were not  public figures.

While in conversation, the two lead actors (Rami is a producer too) have mentioned how they prepared for the film and actually starved themselves! In order to understand their characters’ emotions to the core, they had absolutely no food for five consecutive, days and only two bottles of water! Said Hunnam, “Rami and I aggressively starved ourselves, which is the type of thing that will make two men become brothers very quickly. To be hungry all the time, and to deny the primal instinct to feed yourself, is no easy trick.” Their sacrifices added to the characterisations in no mean measure. Dutch actor Yorick Van Wageningen makes a terrifying Warden and Irishwoman Eve Hewsen (Bridge of Spies, Enough Said, Blood Ties).has a brief role as Nenette, Henri;'s love interest.

Adult fare for sure, Papillon is like those thousands of motivational books that remind you to try and keep trying, till you succeed, promising you that all sincere and continuing efforts always help you reaps rich rewards. The fact of the matter is that such instances are one in a million, and that is what makes Papillon’s 13-year marathon worthwhile making a film about.

Rating: ***

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqj7XOv9mC8