Shawshank Redemption for me and many others is the Wordsworth of Prison break movies. Papillon matches it for me if not overcoming its awe. And reasons are quite a few.
The beauty of Papillon lies in its sweat infecting, malaria prone, mosquito squabs that literally swells the viewer with shocks and brazenness about the penal colony conditions in French Guinea. One exactly feels the misery of the inmates, the helplessness of the convicts and the inhuman behavior of the wardens- the visuals and the background score accentuating the whole cinematic experience. The characters played by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffmann couldn't have been better accomplished- with both actors doing absolute justice. The camaraderie and friendship between two visibly different men who're bought together by fate is subtly yet effectively portrayed.
The beauty of Papillon lies in its sweat infecting, malaria prone, mosquito squabs that literally swells the viewer with shocks and brazenness about the penal colony conditions in French Guinea. One exactly feels the misery of the inmates, the helplessness of the convicts and the inhuman behavior of the wardens- the visuals and the background score accentuating the whole cinematic experience. The characters played by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffmann couldn't have been better accomplished- with both actors doing absolute justice. The camaraderie and friendship between two visibly different men who're bought together by fate is subtly yet effectively portrayed.
The movie also brings to point the basic psychology of convicts- for it is the innocent Papillon, who though being battered with two physical and soul crushing terms, in what is called as the silent torture cell, yet yearns for freedom, achieving it finally in his last attempt. The defiance of the innocent is admirable. On the other hand, his friend Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffmann) is always reluctant and in fact never interested in breaking the prison walls. He has forged, and he perhaps knows that he deserves the incarceration.
The sequences where Papillon meets the helpful lepers, the erotic Indians and the treacherous nun is reflectively melancholic but beautiful in essence- capturing the whole indictment of unfortunate consequences that unfold.
The final scenes in the 'Devil Island' are poignant, as the much battered old friends re-unite. Nothing though has changed in the spirits of these two surviving prisoners. Papillon still dreams of freedom while Dega is still closely clinging to fate.
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