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Papillon | |||
| BUY region 1 |
BUY region 2 | The best homevideo option is DVD. It is 16/9 enhanced for widescreen TV's and presented in the film's Original Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1. Extra features on the DVD are the movie trailer, an isolated soundtrack, a text based talent profile of the Director and two lead actors, and an interesting featurette made during filming of Papillon. Special Note The new Papillon DVD release featured as part of The Essential Steve McQueen Collection does not include the Isolated Sound Track. |
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| The Story | ||||
McQueen, Don Gordon, and Hoffman. McQueen plays Henri Charriere (or Papillon-which
means 'little butterfly', a tatoo of which he has on his chest), and Hoffman plays Louis Dega, both of whom are convicted criminals
sent to the brutal French penal colony Devil's Island, which is basically a jungle based labor camp. From the moment he arrives Papillon (with the assistance of Dega) is hatching escape plans. The story rises above other lesser 'escape' themed films in that it brilliantly explores the power of the human will, and the deep friendship which both lead characters develop in the midst of their hardships. McQueen regular Don Gordon also appears in the role of fellow inmate Julot. | ||||
| McQueen and Hoffman. | ||||
| Steve McQueen really showed his stuff in this film. Acting alongside Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman he still managed to give the stand out performance of the movie. Having said that, the two actors complemented each others performances brilliantly, to produce one of the best films ever made. | ||||
| True Story? | ||||
| Papillon is based on the novel of the same name written by the real life Henri Charrier, which it is interesting to note that director Franklin J Schaffner had strong doubts as to the factual authenticity of. This does not in any way reduce the brilliance of the film (or why else would an Academy Award winning director have wanted to spend many months in the jungle making it!) | ||||
| DVD Extras | ||||
| As stated at the top of the review, the disk features the original movie trailer, an isolated soundtrack and a simple
text based talent profile of Director Franklin J Schaffner, Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. The best extra feature is an interesting behind the scenes featurette called Magnificent Rebel which features interviews with all the key players, and footage of them on set, as well as a tour through Devil's Island by the real Charrier. | ||||