Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1834 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-12-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, German, Swedish, Finnish, Danish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 144 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Franklin J Schaffner's Papillon is quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as thrilling as The Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic as The Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is nevertheless unparalleled. Significantly, the only characters to display any real kindness in this film are the social outcasts: the lepers and native Indians; everyone else has been corrupted and debased by the true villain, the penal system itself. Based on Henri Charrière' s heavily fictionalised "autobiography", the film's timeless themes of man's insatiable desire for freedom and the indomitability of the human spirit are thankfully not dependent for their impact on the source material's veracity. Dalton Trumbo's liberal-minded screenplay echoes the themes of his earlier script for Spartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biography Patton) is fully equal to the task of realising it on screen. The director's painterly eye for widescreen composition and his careful pacing impart a gravitas to proceedings even during the film's most squalid depictions of brutality, of which there are many emphasising the cheapness of human life among the convicts and their equally criminal prison guards in the penal colony of French Guiana. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman form a remarkable screen pairing, with Hoffman outstanding as the pusillanimous Dega. McQueen magnificently overcomes his tough-guy persona in the extraordinary solitary confinement sequences as he is gradually reduced to a shambling, cockroach-eating wreck. Longtime collaborator Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously scored Schaffner's Planet of the Apes and Patton, attained yet another career high with his music.

On the DVD: The anamorphic widescreen print of the original Panavision 2. 35:1 ratio looks fine without being as stunning as some more modern prints; the Dolby 5.1 audio does however do great service to Jerry Goldsmith's score, which can also be selected separately from the Audio Setup menu as an isolated track (note that there's no music at all in the first 20 minutes of the film). The 12-minute "Magnificent Rebel" featurette was made at the time of the film's release , and includes some fascinating footage of Henri Charrière touring the prison se t, reminiscing about his experiences and pontificating ("Society does not want free men, society wants conditioned men"). --Mark Walker

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 5
German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English\Dolby Digital Mono German
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital Mono
Interactive Menus
Featurette
Filmographies
Isolated Score
Trailer
Danish\English\Finnish\German\Norwegian\Swedish

Synopsis
One man sentenced to life in the French prison system refuses to give up trying to escape even when transferred to the prison colony on Devil's Island. Despite years of degradation and horror, the undying spirit of "Papillon" never dies. Academy Award Nominations: Best Original Dramatic Score.

Customer Reviews

Bleak but brilliant
A pretty stark depiction of the human spirit and how quickly normal people can become dehumanised by their conditions, but balanced out by the characters played by McQueen and Hoffman (together with the chaacters that come into the story and help them out). It's not always the actions of the prisoners that are brutal either, the establishment - both guards and civilians - are also portrayed in a damming light. Brilliant acting from McQueen and Hoffman as they are able to pick up their characters and bring out their differing but complimentary personalities perfectly.

I'd agree with the comment that you wouldn't watch it much more often than once every five years as it's a long film and quite heavy going; but when you do you'll be drawn into it without fail.

Cinematically it's also very impressive with brilliant use of locations and atmospheric sound, including effective use of silence when some films may have shied away and felt that they needed music.

Raw McQueen at his Best.
This movie stars Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman as '..two men with nothing in common but a will to live and a place to die'. Based on a true story, this movie is a pictorial image of the horror and suffering that is endured by those who cross the line of the law. The locations are dramatic, the actors are second to none and the story line is keeps you gripped as you follow these to convicts through their captivity. This is one of the best films that McQueen has done. It is a powerful performance from start to finish. Laugh, cry..you name it, you'll do it!

Far from the book
Just a warning if you liked the book & like to see the movie. You'll probably be disappointed. Reasons are that many things of the story have been changed to fit into a movie context. Actually many fundamental things. The movie story is not in line with the book by very much. It is actually a bit strange. Quite a few sequences are quiet in the movie, while I think the quiet passes should have been filled by Papi's voice telling what he thinks. Viewers who have read the book will understand what is going on in the head of the characters. Viewers who have not read the book will not understand much.

Main benefits of the movie:
Nice for readers who long to see some of the environments. Some of them are quite nice to see, even though the movie was recorded in Jamaica and not Frech Guyana.

If you have read the book: See the movie if ou want to see the environments of the book. At least some of them. But do not expect to get the story one more time.

If you have not read the book: See the film, but *do* read the book.