Papillon movie review: Represents gritty film-making at its most uncompromising

Director: Michael Noer

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek and others.

Papillon is the remake of the 1973 classic of the same name. It is based on a true story of a French thief who becomes friends with one of his fellow prison mates, and together they plan an escape. However, this film is probably best described as being a stirring drama of friendship under hair-raising circumstances.

Henri Charriere aka 'Papillon' (Charlie Hunnam), is falsely accused of murder and sent to an inescapable prison on the secluded island. Charriere spends years trying to escape from this hellish prison, but every attempt somehow goes awry. He also meets with Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who offers to finance his escape over the condition of protecting his life from ruthless inmates. Soon the two get an opportunity to run far off, but destiny has different plans for them.

A still from the film.

In the exquisite direction of Michael Noer, the film accelerates well through good character development. It is a movie that really gives one a very dark and somewhat disturbing picture of prison life. The technical aspects are just excellent. The feel one pretty soon gets is that this is not the usual prison movie experience. The scenes are brutal and real to the level that one might get a unpleasant feel when seeing this picture of prison life. The violence is just as though, bloody and gritty. The sounds and music contribute well to create the right feel.

Papillon has a very interesting plot, but it works in the most part because of the solid performances given by the lead actors, Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, who are just outstanding and very believable in their roles. The success of a character driven movie depends most of the time on the actors, and both these actors are first rate here. The supporting cast is serviceable.

On initial viewing some may feel out of the loop due to obvious comparison with the original and others might be deterred by the infrequent but highly graphic violence and difficult subject matter. These issues aside though, Noer's film still possesses a gritty, authentic visual style along with a complex and layered performance by both Hunnam and Malek. The engaging performances in the film manage to carry it along nicely, ensuring it is a worthwhile watch.

Watch the trailer here: