"...I'm Still Here!"
PACKAGING:
This is the first US Warner Brothers 'Book Pack' (or
Digibook as they sometimes call it) that I've bought on BLU RAY and I'm
impressed. It's beautifully presented - and more important - the print has been
restored to a truly fantastic degree throughout. There are rarely any occasions
when the transfer doesn't show the sweat and grime of this protracted prison
drama with anything less than properly gorgeous clarity. It didn't look this
good on DVD and that's for damn sure (and it's reasonably priced too).
Released May 2011 (barcode: 883929172764) - the other good
news for fans outside of the USA is that it's a REGION FREE issue - so will
play on every machine.
The booklet is 36-pages long and features both full-colour
and black-and-white prints of the actors, Director Franklin J. Schaffner
("The Caine Mutiny", "12 Angry Men" and "Planet Of The
Apes") and on-set photographs and key scenes from the movie. There's also
an info-page pasted to the back of the hardback sleeve but it's flimsy and
creases easily - so you might want to put the whole thing in a protective
plastic. The disc itself not surprisingly sports a Butterfly logo. But I'd have
to say that the side is let down somewhat by the supposed 'Special Features'.
Apart from a "Theatrical Trailer" - the lone extra is called
"The Magnificent Rebel" which lasts just over 12 minutes. Hoffman
says a few words, McQueen nothing - however - it does feature the real
Charriere revisiting the set designed by people who'd worked on "2001: A
Space Odyssey" and "Patton" - a full scale rebuilding of his
prison - complete with gates, walls, cells and guillotine. His ruminations are
not surprisingly bitter - "Society does not want free men...it wants men
to march like sheep..." - all police are corrupt - the judicial system
vengeful. An unexpected up is that it does at least let you see just how bad
the original footage was before restoration - covered in scratches, washed out
and undefined...
THE FILM:
Cited by one drama teacher in the early Sixties as
"least likely to succeed as an actor" - DUSTIN HOFFMAN had just come
off a stunning run of layered performances in "The Graduate" (1967),
"Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "Little Big Man" (1970) and
"Straw Dogs" (1971). But for me his best nerd-in-over-his-head
character is in 1973's "Papillon" where he absolutely aced it again
with his beautifully controlled portrayal of Louis Dega. Dega is a weedy
counterfeiter given life imprisonment for money fraud that cost several members
of the French Government dear. Such is the severity of life in these tropical
prisons and their inhospitable environs (chained communal bedrooms to swamp
detail and back again) - Dega with his sticky-taped bifocals is unlikely to
live let alone make parole. When the warden warns the arriving inmates in the
yard talk to "Make the best of what we offer you...and you will suffer
less..." he isn't joking. Those who attempt escape (and are caught) are
publicly beheaded. If he doesn't rot to death in solitary - Dega will be
stabbed in his sleep for his knowledge. The only way for Louis to survive is to
buy protection. In this he is unwillingly paired with Henri Charriere (played
by STEVE McQUEEN) - a man claiming he's innocent because he was framed for
murder - but an inmate genuinely capable of handling himself and others. Charriere
sports a Butterfly tattoo on his chest ('Papillon' in French) and is a spirit
that will not be contained no matter what the dehumanizing regimes throw at him
(long spells in solitary on barely subsistence food). Across 14 years that feel
like 40 and 8 failed escape attempts - the wildly differing duo are then
finally sent to the notorious penitentiary on Devil's Island - a rock in the
Atlantic off the coast of South America (owned at that time by French Guiana)
that also houses a leper colony. Surrounded by cliffs and an unforgiving sea -
escape (they are told) is not possible. But even bruised, battered and
considerably older by the end of the film - Papillon has other ideas...
It has to be said that this is a long movie - and decades of
incarceration and brutality may not be everyone's idea of a fun night in. But
the fantastical twisting story (which at times beggars belief - the nun's
segment in particular) and the two leads firing on all sixes - produces a damn
near irresistible combination. Both McQueen and Hoffman wisely avoid the trap
of a buddy-buddy movie. These are two prisoners who don't even like each other
much but have to co-exist in a living Hell. Yet both actors got under the skin
of their characters so much that there are moments when Dega and Charriere
simply look at each other and silently 'know' - dreams of freedom must be
repressed - just thinking about it is too painful and wearing...
McQueen's 'Papillon' in particular (whether based on a real
man or not) is a fantastic creation. Wilful yet somehow kind - bloody-minded
yet fair - his Papillon is infused with an indomitable spirit. When in one of
his long solitary confinement stretches (surviving on pacing the cell and
eating cockroaches) - he looks up at the shaft of light above him coming
through the steel bars he can't reach and croaks with defiance "Hey! You
bastards! I'm still here!" Waist-deep in stinking rivers and thick mud,
bedding on hard concrete floors and traipsing around in bedraggled rags in the
ever-present swelter (partially filmed in Jamaica) - McQueen suffered for the
part. But he knew it had substance and soul - so he dug in to find his
man...and succeeded with grace and dignity. The role even replaced Steve
McQueen 'The Star' with Steve McQueen 'The Actor' - ditching his 'coolest man
on Earth' persona and proving his critics wrong.
"Papillon" is a magnificent film - still resonant
to this day nearly 40 years after the event. It may leave you feeling like
you've taken a day-long hike through the desert with the Foreign Legion
followed by a nice relaxing full body dip in a cesspool to cool down afterwards
- but it's a difficult watch that is 'so' worth the difficulty.
Recommended big time...
BLU RAY Specifications:
PICTURE: 1080p High Definition, 16 x 9 and 2.4:1 Aspect
Ratios (Fills Full Screen)
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1
SUBTITLES: English for Hard-Of Hearing, French and Spanish
EXTRAS: Theatrical Trailer and a 12-minute featurette called
"The Magnificent Rebel"
PS: I'm sure I speak for many film fans when I say this - my
wish would be that Warner Brothers would start reissuing their superb classic
back-catalogue in this 'Book Pack' style here in the UK. Why are the British
and European marketplaces being so short-changed on this?
Also - if you want an idea of what titles are available
Stateside that play on UK machines - see my List Number 81 on Amazon UK entitled "US
BLU RAYS That Are Better Than UK (And Play Here Too)"
