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View Full Version : Papillon (1973) - great movie



Os Cangaceiros
22nd May 2013, 04:03
I liked this so much that I felt compelled to make a thread about it. It was a "blind watch" on my part but I was surprised at how much I liked it.

It's about a French convict named Papillon (played by Steve McQueen), an individual who escaped from a penal colony in French Guyana. The ending is great:

Papillon floats away from captivity on a raft made of coconuts, laughing about how the system couldn't keep him in captivity, and then a narrator explains how he spent the rest of his life in freedom & outlasted the brutal institution that had tried to break him for many years, which now lies in ruins.

Papillon was simultaneously a really unlucky and a really lucky guy. One minute he's getting beaten up by the authorities, thrown in solitary, starved, tortured etc, and the next he's giving an indigenous South American chief a tattoo and banging the chief's hot daughter. Was that the chief's daughter? Hmm. That whole idyllic scene in the native village was completely unexpected and absurd. Anyway, you should see this movie. It's the perfect blend of action, comedy (the way Steve McQueen says certain lines in this movie was hilarious, and had to have been intentionally comedic) and drama. Good story about someone who the state tried and failed to crush.

Brandon's Impotent Rage
22nd May 2013, 04:28
It's fucking Steve McQueen. OF COURSE it's a great movie!

Prometeo liberado
22nd May 2013, 04:45
I once saw a student film of Steve McQueen cleaning his toilet. I dare not ever, ever, ever clean my own again. He made that movie!

Jimmie Higgins
22nd May 2013, 09:27
I haven't seen that movie in probably more than a decade. I grew up on movies from the late 60s and through the 70s... hmm, why do I hate authority and love rebels so much :lol:. Bonnie and Clyde and Cool Hand Luke and Foxy Brown 4-evah! My parents totally unknowingly indoctronated me in this way... I was watching anti-establishment movies from the 70s when my friends were watching Rambo sequels.

Anyway, I really liked that movie when I was in high school and would love to see it again.

Jimmie Higgins
22nd May 2013, 09:43
I hear McG is re-making it with Ryan Gosling (McQueen) and Michael Cerea (Hoffman).

...not really:D

Mytan Fadeseasy
22nd May 2013, 10:23
I haven't seen this film since I was a teenager, and can barely remember what happens in it. You've inspired me to watch it again. :)

bcbm
27th May 2013, 00:19
one of my favorite films. the book is quite good as well.

Rugged Collectivist
28th May 2013, 21:46
Watched it with my dad when I was a kid. I only remember like a tenth of it. Thanks for reminding me it existed! I might just watch it again. I'm not too familiar with Steve McQueen's work but I really enjoyed The Great Escape.