Papillon

1973
R
2h 31m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

140K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer4:09

Prison Drama Biography Crime Drama

A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot... Read allA French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

140K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,425

430

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total

Trivia
Steve McQueen insisted on performing the stunt where he jumps off a cliff into the water. McQueen once said that it was "one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life".

Goofs
It is highly implausible (and never explained) why the escaped trio would need to sail their boat all the way to Honduras, a country in Central America and several thousand miles away from French-Guiana. Why not sail along the coast due south to Brazil or north-west to Venezuela? In fact, in the autobiographic novel on which the movie is loosely based, Papillon (Henri Charriere) eventually escapes to Venezuela.

Quotes
Papillon: Hey you bastards, I'm still here.

Alternate versions
Some American prints of this film run 132 minutes, instead of 150.

Connections
Featured in The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson (1987)

Soundtracks
Ballet Music from Faust
(uncredited)
Music by Charles Gounod

User reviews255

Review

Featured review

This actually happened

Steve McQueen plays Henri "Papillon" Charriere who is sentenced to life in a French penal colony for a murder he didn't do.There he befriends with an other convict Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman).Henri's only goal is to escape.Franklin J. Schaffner's Papillon (1973) is based on a true story.Charriere actually went through all this and then wrote a book. The acting work is unique.Steve McQueen (1930-1980) is superb in the lead.Also Dustin Hoffman (1937-) is excellent as always.This movie is filled with incredible scenes.Everything works perfectly in this amazing movie.If you want to see a dramatic adventure masterpiece this is a movie for you to see.