Papillion (2018 Review)

Papillion is a Remake that Soars.

Papillion marks the fourth remake I’ve had a chance to review since Stars & Popcorn came back online and I have to say it’s the best of them all so far. Based on the 1973 film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, it would be hard to imagine anyone living up to those iconic stars. However, director Michael Noer might just have been on to something when he cast Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek in the lead roles. Together they manage to make the 133 minute run time not just tolerable, but actually enjoyable.

For those of you who are unaware of the story of Papillion, I’ll warn you that my review will contain some slight spoilers. Though nothing that will ruin the movie. Afterall, I saw the first Papillion and managed to find myself enjoying this remake quite a bit.

The basic story is that a French thief, Henri ‘Papillon’ Charrière (Hunnam) is framed for murder and sent off to a penal colony in French Papua New Guinea. It’s a hellish place where the only question is what will kill you first, the guards, the inmates, the jungle, or the sea? Papillion though is a man of unbreakable spirit and doesn’t take the warden at his word that there is no escape. So, with the help of his new friend Louis Dega (Malek), he plans to escape from the hell he has been sent to spend the rest of this life in.

I’ve never been overly impressed with Hunnam as an actor in the past. It’s not that I thought he was bad in his previous films, it’s just that I’ve found him to be forgettable no matter how much I enjoyed his performances while I was watching them. As Papillion though, he managed to earn my respect with his boyish charm, swagger, and optimism. It might be almost blasphemous to say but I have a feeling he could very much be the new Steve McQueen given the right opportunities with this. While he’s always had a chance to smile and spout one-liners in his previous films, the parts that impressed me most were the long periods of silence when Papillion was sentenced to solitary confinement. As his character struggles to retain his sanity, Hunnam’s expressions speak volumes in the deafening silence. It might not be an Oscar-worthy performance, but it’s one that shows he’s capable of much more than what he’s been given to work with on the big screen before.

Of course, Malek is no slouch when it comes to this film. He’s managed to make a name for himself with the hit show Mr. Robot, and it looks like he’s carrying that talent with him to the big screen. I’ve always thought there was something off about Malek in the past, but for the character of Dega, it works perfectly. He’s a total fish out of water among these brutes in prison and completely helpless without Papillion. However, as the film goes on we see his character grow ever more accustomed to his surroundings. In a kill or be killed world, this weak rich boy soon finds himself with the instinct and drive to survive.

Papillion is a beast of a film and one not for the faint of heart or whose attention wanes easily. As I mentioned earlier it has an incredibly long runtime that shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, director Michael Noer makes the most out of every minute he has. True a great deal of time is spent on Papillion’s solitary confinement which includes long sequences of dead silence. But it never feels like the film is wasting any time. It all feels necessary, save for one or two hallucinations that feature Malek at his weirdest. Other than that though he gets the most out of Papillion because he’s a director that isn’t afraid to take his time. This is especially appropriate because it’s a movie about two men facing life imprisonment. That’s not exactly something that flies by.

My knee-jerk is that Papillion probably won’t see any love at the Oscars this year, but that’s ok. Because, as we all know, there are plenty of terrific films that come out every year that the Academy often ignores. I’m not saying that it deserves accolades upon accolades, but I do think that Papillion deserves some credit for not just being a remarkable remake, but a terrific film in general. That being said, it’s certainly a movie you have to be ready for. It’s not easy to watch at times and is a film that requires patience. If you’re down for a movie that requires you to sit back and actually pay attention, then I don’t think you’ll go wrong with Papillion. It was certainly more than I was expecting and I would go so far as to say it was what I was hoping for.