Papillon (1973) ****

I was haunted while watching Papillon. When Papillon (Steve McQueen) is stuck in solitary confinement, I kept thinking back to the Cooler King from The Great Escape. Shockingly, I discovered that Nazi were more humane than French colonists in Guyana. Weird, huh?

Papillon follows the prison term of the title character, nicknamed for the butterfly tattoo on his chest. Sent to Devils Island for life Papillon strikes a deal with Dega (Dustin Hoffman) that in exchange for protection Dega will finance an escape attempt. Dega is loaded and carries his money in a new fangled prison wallet called his ass. Talk about money in need of laundering. The film continues to be one screw job after another as the innocent Papillon tries to get off of Devil's Island.

You can see the complaints some people may have with this film. Sure McQueen and Hoffman have little chemistry, but on screen it's basically a business arrangement that turns into a strained friendship because of all the failures the pair go through. A massive film directed by Patton's Franklin Schaffner Papillon does drag in some points, particularly the solitary scenes. These could be considered too much, but McQueen really expresses the role of the anti-Cooler King, ready to break and eating insects in the dark. It's too long because any kind of confinement is too long.

Really, Papillon isn't the Great Escape II. It's more of the breaking of men in the middle of the jungle. I can't forget another piece of casting brilliance with Vic Tayback playing a French guard. Dingy!