Format: Blu-Ray

Genre: Drama

Location: Fi12b

Papillon (1973)

A semi-fictional account of Henri Charrière’s time in the penal system in French Guyana – some of it spent on the infamous Devil’s Island – is presented. It’s the early 1930s. Charrière – nicknamed Papillon because of his butterfly tattoo – and Louis Dega is two among many who have been convicted in the French judicial system. They are now being transferred to French Guyana, where they will serve their time, never to return to France even if they are released. A safe-cracker by criminal profession, Papillon is serving a life sentence for murdering a pimp, a crime for which he adamantly states he was framed. Dega is a wealthy counterfeiter who expects his well-to-do wife to eventually get him released. At Papillon’s initiative, the duo enters into a business arrangement: Papillon will provide protection for Dega, who, in turn, will finance Papillon’s escape attempt. As the two men spend more time together than either had expected, their burgeoning friendship ends up being an essential factor altering their original plans, as they work with and against others trying to achieve their own goals, sometimes conflicting with those of Papillon and Dega.