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Papillon (1973)

8.0
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Ratings: 8.0/10 from 55,062 users  
Reviews: 134 user | 44 critic

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

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(screenplay), (screenplay), 1 more credit »
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Title: Papillon (1973)

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Top 250 #241 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »

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Stars: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Indian Chief
...
Julot
...
Toussaint
Robert Deman ...
Maturette
...
Clusiot
...
Lariot
George Coulouris ...
Dr. Chatal
Ratna Assan ...
Zoraima
...
Warden Barrot
...
Pascal
...
Antonio
...
Sergeant (as Victor Tayback)
...
Guard
Edit

Storyline

Henri "Papillon" Charierre is sentenced to life in prison and transported to the penal in French Guyana. Aboard ship on the voyage over, he meets Louis Degas, a forger. They form a bond that will last them a great many years. The conditions at the penal colony are horrific and Papillon desperately wants to escape. He first attempt ends quickly in failure and as a result he spends 2 years in solitary confinement. His next attempts is somewhat more successful and he actually spends a idyllic time with a tribe of Central America Indians. Once caught however, he does 5 years in solitary confinement. Once released, he decides to make one final attempt at freedom. Written by garykmcd

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Two men with nothing in common but a will to live and a place to die See more »

Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

|

Language:

|

Release Date:

16 December 1973 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Ba Bi Long  »

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$53,267,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(magnetic prints)| (optical prints)

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Third music score composed by Jerry Goldsmith for director Franklin J. Schaffner after Goldsmith's two previous scores for both Patton and Planet of the Apes both got Oscar nominated. Goldsmith's score for this film was also Academy Award nominated - for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, the movie's only Oscar nomination. See more »

Goofs

A harness is visible on Papillon's midsection as he helps Dega over the wall. See more »

Quotes

Toussaint: How did you know I have dry leprosy, that it isn't contagious?
Papillon: I didn't.
See more »

Connections

References The Great Escape (1963) See more »

Soundtracks

"Ballet Music from Faust"
(uncredited)
Music by Charles Gounod
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Terrific! Most underrated film ever.
15 December 2004 | by (Davis, California) – See all my reviews

I felt so moved after watching this film. Steve McQueen did a terrific job acting as Henry. Although at times, he just acted as McQueen, he did a wonderful job expressing suffering in the solitary confinement scene, and great towards the end of the movie. Hoffman is always an exceptional actor and in this movie he is no different. Unfortunately it neither won for, nor got nominated for an Oscar, and it deserved to win 3 (supporting actor, actor, picture). As much as I loved the Sting, this movie was better for that year.Some critics gave it a bad review, even a 1973 Roger Ebert article criticized this film. I guess you cant blame them too much, movies were better those days. Note that 1973 was sandwiched between 2 Godfather years.Maybe some people figured that McQueen was just redoing his Great Escape role. Either way, nowadays films are so bad I am just thirsting for a movie this deep. But if the best Hollywood can do nowadays is a glittzy trashpiece like Chicago, we cant expect too much from our times.


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No accent? jakholman
Great movie, but I call 'Bull *beep* le-fantome
I think this movie is an insult to the book (founded) deboas
and the moral of the story is... flatlinebeforedeath
Exactly where did Dega... Hei_Shibing
Question about the ending lozza_199
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