... Among this group are murderer Henri "Papillon" Charriere(McQueen) and mousey embezzler Louis Dega(Hoffman) who doesn't look like he is going to stand a chance amongst some of the hardest criminals in al of France - but who is also still sitting on a rather large fortune thanks to his nefarious ... Read review
Franklin J Schaffner'sPapillonis quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as ... more
thrilling asThe Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic asThe Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is neve...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Franklin J Schaffner'sPapillonis quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as ... more
thrilling asThe Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic asThe Shawshank Redemption, its unflinching emphasis on the barbarism of "civilised" societies is neve...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Not just a great escape. It was the greatest. They called him Papillon meaning ... more
"butterfly." If only he had wings to go with the name. Unable to fly Henri Charriere virtually willed himself free. He persisted until he did the impossible: escape Devil...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Imprisoned on infamous Devil's Island, Papillon (Steve McQueen) is obsessed with the idea ... more
of freedom. Together with his friend Dega (Dustin Hoffman), Papillon ceaselessly works on means of escape, his spirit refusing to be broken by savage and humiliat...
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly tells the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby - the editor of ... more
the fashion magazine 'Elle France ' who at the age of 43 suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body except his left eye. Using his eye to blink out his memoir Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Franklin J Schaffner'sPapillonis quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as ... more
thrilling asThe Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic asThe 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 thethemes of his earlier script forSpartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biographyPatton) 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'sPlanet of the ApesandPatton, 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
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Franklin J Schaffner'sPapillonis quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as ... more
thrilling asThe Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic asThe 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 forSpartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biographyPatton) 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'sPlanet of the ApesandPatton, 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
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Franklin J Schaffner'sPapillonis quite possibly the definitive prison escape drama. Not as ... more
thrilling asThe Great Escape, nor as emotionally cathartic asThe 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 forSpartacus, and Schaffner's innate gift for epic cinema (this was made just two years after his great war biographyPatton) 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'sPlanet of the ApesandPatton, 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
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
...try to murder Louis, but Papillon steps in and saves him leading the two to become close friends. It is this friendship which earns Papillon the first of many extended stints in solitary confinement, as he attacks a guard who is picking on Louis and tries to make an escape attempt. Most of the movie then revolves around a battle of wills between Papillon and the commander of solitary confinement as he makes frequent escape attempts and gets returned ... ...neither will back down before Papillon is finally returned to the prison population. Here he is greeted once again by Louis who has been living a relatively cushy life thanks to being able to bribe every member of the prison with his fortune. He tries to convince Papillon to serve the rest of his time and wait for parole but he of course refuses and eventually both get involved in a final escape attempt...
Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman star in this gritty prison drama based on the true story of the only man to escape from the notoriously harsh and 'inescapable' Devil's Island prison - the crowning glory of the French penal system. Directed by Franklin Schaffner it pulls no punches in showing the French penal system in all its grim brutality, an uncompromising stance with earned the movie an adult rating for violent content when it was submitted for classification. This was later lowered to PG on appeal for much of the violence is implied and mental torture, but even so, it is still quite intense in parts.
The movie starts in 1930s Marseille with a large group of prisoners being marched through the streets to the dock where they will be transported to Devil's Island. Among this group are murderer Henri "Papillon" Charriere(McQueen) and mousey embezzler Louis Dega(Hoffman) who doesn't look like he is going to stand a chance amongst some of the hardest criminals in al of France - but who is also still sitting on a rather large fortune thanks to his nefarious deeds. On board ship, two of the other convicts try to murder Louis, but Papillon steps in and saves him leading the two to become close friends. It is this friendship which earns Papillon the first of many extended stints in solitary confinement, as he attacks a guard who is picking on Louis and tries to make an escape attempt. Most of the movie then revolves around a battle of wills between Papillon and the commander of solitary confinement as he makes frequent escape attempts and gets returned here, eventually leading to a horrifically inhumane extended stay. He battles against insanity, starvation and disease under the eye of the cruel commander who is determined to break him no matter how long it takes. We watch them age, their hair greying to white over the years as neither will back down before Papillon is finally returned to the prison population. Here he is greeted once again by Louis who has been living a relatively cushy life thanks to being able to bribe every member of the prison with his fortune. He tries to convince Papillon to serve the rest of his time and wait for parole but he of course refuses and eventually both get involved in a final escape attempt...
Both McQueen and Hoffman are absolutely superb in this movie, turning in performances which easily rank up there with the best in their careers. McQueen's battle against madness in the small concrete boxes that were solitary confinement quarters is as fascinating as it is harrowing to watch. Nowhere does the movie shy away from some of the more horrific elements of the French penal system or try to make it more glossy to add wider appeal...which is good because it never needed it. It turned over $22 million dollars on it US release and still remains one of the best prison movies ever made, well up there with The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile to name some of the better more recent offerings. That is not to say that it is a faultless movie or that it will have universal appeal because it certainly is not going to be to everybody's taste. Its pretty grim throughout and doesn't let up for one second, so its not easy viewing. It is also hardly action packed, remember that a large chunk of the movie is dedicated to Papillon's years in solitary. Some say this section drags by but you need to truly try to empathise with McQueen's character to get the full force of these sequences - and then it certainly does NOT drag at all. Much of the action is on a psychological level rather than an aural/visual one so if this doesn't sound like your bag then give it a miss. For the rest of us, it is quite simply superb and well worth a rental, or to look out for next time it makes one of its frequent televisual appearances.
Advantages: One of McQueen's finest performances, true story Disadvantages: Bit lengthy at nearly two and a half hours
...selling book of Henri Charriere Papillon (Henri's nickname meaning butterfly) is not only one of the greatest escape stories ever but also a tale of a man who refused to give in.
Wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp the film opens with Papi walking thorough the streets of France with the other convicts. The crowd gathered around them is a mixture of people spitting in disgust at them and other baring Christian symbols and praying for their soles. ... ...The following day Dega approaches Papillon saying that he knows he is danger and that he requires protection, Papi agrees for some of the money that Dega is carrying to help him escape.
Arriving at the prison we see some of the futile attempts of some convicts to escape which ends in them being shot and we discover that it's desperation as 40% of the people send to this prison die. All gathered in a courtyard the prison governor lays the hash rules ...
Paid.Ark.Man 02.08.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Papillon (DVD)
Advantages: Outstanding performnaces, great story Disadvantages: A little long
...amongst the prisoners is rife. Papillon offers protection to master forger Louis Dega in return for Dega financing his escape attempt when they reach their destination. Life in the prison is fanatically harsh with severe penalties for escape attempts and very little in the way of priveledges and comforts. Despite this Papillon attempts escape but is sold out, recaptured, and must endure two years silent solitary confinement. Emerging a seemingly ... ...brilliance was needed and although Papillon boasts a very limited well known cast, it doesn't really get hampered by it. McQueen and Hoffman are the stars and they show what class acts they are. The portrayal of Papillon is brilliantly handled by McQueen and this is arguably his finest perfomance. His scenes of solitary confinement are harrowing because of the realisticness of the production and the intimate camerawork but McQueen's performance is ...
TheNeil 22.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Papillon (DVD)
Advantages: The greatest movie ever made, McQueen, Hoffman....everything Disadvantages: nothing
...subsequent book by Henri Charriere, Papillon (French for butterfly and Charriere's nickname) tells the tale of a petty criminal wrongly convicted of murder in France and subsequently sentenced to a long term in the notorious penal colony. Papillon joins forces with Dega, played exceptionally well by the ever amazing Dustin Hoffman serving time for a national bonds scam and looks out of place in a very unforgiving environment. As stated before McQueen ... ...(1966)
Time and again Papillon tries to escape knowing that capture will lead to solitary confinement and many more years in jail unjustly, and time and again Papillon is captured and retuned either by the evil bounty hunters or intriguingly a nun. The passion running through McQueen lets you feel the raw emotions he is going through, and no matter what he endures he never gives up the hope of one day escaping "I'm still here you Bastards" a line ...
jsrennie 18.01.2005 (27.10.2005)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Papillon (DVD)
Wrongly convicted Henri Carriere (Papillon, a bland performance from Steve McQueen) tries to escape from the evil prison environment of Devil's Island with the able assistance of fellow convict, Dustin Hoffman.
The big problem with this film is with director, Franklin J. Schaffner's choice of lead: McQueen looks too relatively sedate & out of place for a tough story like this. Perhaps he still thinks he's the Cooler King from the more entertaining ... ...extreme prison punishments & unsavoury environments McQueen just doesn't fit the bill.
I was, however, more interested in Hoffman's character as a crooked financier who sold a lot of investors into poverty and is now a Public Enemy to a lot of people. And only a bodily-inserted capsule full of money manages to keep him alive as he bargains with McQueen to protect him as his bodyguard.
The great thing about Hoffman is that he can play all kinds ...
dreamstar70 26.01.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Papillon (DVD)
Advantages: Really drags you in to the emotion of it all Disadvantages: Some may be put off by the lack of dialogue
...premise of the film surrounds Papillon (Steve McQueen) and his imprisonment on the infamous Devil's Island. He makes friends with Dega (Dustin Hoffman) as he ceaselessly plots means of escape. Despite several failed escape attempts, Papillon refuses to have his spirit broken by his ruthless and humiliating captors. If you are after a film with sparkling dialogue, you will want to give this a miss as there are long periods where not a word is spoken. ... ...than make up for it. Usually after reading a book, the film adaptation is extremely disappointing, but thankfully in this case, the film more than lives up to its billing. Overall, I really enjoyed this film and would heartily recommend it as, despite it's length, the time will fly by as you are brilliantly drawn into the struggles and yearning for freedom of Papillon. ...
kipper54 04.02.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Papillon (DVD)
The story of one man's struggle to escape from Devil's Island prison and his refusal to be broken by his captors. Based on the novel by Henri Charriere.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital Mono German
DVD Description
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.
![Papillon [DVD] [1974]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78522898.jpg)
![Papillon Dvd [1974] | Zerbe Sealed Free Uk P&p](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S1.gif "Papillon Dvd [1974] | Zerbe Sealed Free Uk P&p"){kind=icon}
![PAPILLON - MOVIE [DVD] [1974]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/70665895.jpg "PAPILLON - MOVIE [DVD] [1974]")
![Papillon [DVD] [1974] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/75107476.jpg "Papillon [DVD] [1974] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
![Papillon [DVD] [1974] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/79822686.jpg "Papillon [DVD] [1974] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
![Steve McQueen Collection: Bullitt/Papillon [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/93318973.jpg "Steve McQueen Collection: Bullitt/Papillon [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
