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For some reason, I remembered from high school that my yearbook teacher (who was like a father to me in those years) listed Papillon as his favorite movie. It only took me 11 years to get around to watching it, but I finally Netflixed it. The movie stars Steve McQueen as Henry "Papillon" Charriere, a small time crook who was wrongly imprisoned for murder and sent to French Guiana, South America, where the prisoners were basically unable to escape because of their remote location. Papillon befriends Louis Degas (played by Dustin Hoffman), a quirky but famous counterfeiter, and serves as his security in exchange for help in his escape attempt.

It was kind of odd to see another escape attempt movie starring Steve McQueen (see: The Great Escape), but it was different enough in style and story to allow it. Papillon tries all manners of escape, and in a great sequence, is placed in solitary confinement. This is where McQueen really shines, as his character changes drastically both mentally and physically, and actually becomes dependent on Degas for a change.

One problem I had with this movie, which is always a moral problem I have in movies of this kind, is rooting for the criminals. I know he didn't commit the murder he was convicted of, but from the movie's early scenes, it's established that he's a criminal and seems to have a reputation for it. And then, while protecting Degas, we watch him slit a guy's throat. I don't know. It kind of made me think he belonged on the island. Degas was also a character that was hard to like. He's socially awkward and is definitely in jail for a reason. I just didn't care that much about him.

The movie is very long but is beautifully shot. It's gorier than I expected for its time, but I think that a modern audience would relate to it more because of that. The locales and subject matter are interesting, as are the ways both prisoners and their guards work the system. I found the setting of the second island especially interesting.

Overall, I had trouble connecting with the characters, but found the situation to be really interesting, and that's what won me over, along with McQueen's great performance.