Papillon is a 1973 prison film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the best-selling autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière.
The film stars Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière ("Papillon"), and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Due to being filmed at remote locations, the film was quite expensive for the time ($12 million), but it readily earned more than twice that in the first year of public distribution. The film's title is French for "Butterfly," referring to Charrière's tattoo and nickname.Synopsis
1930's France. Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), a safecracker nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp, he is being framed for the crime. He is sentenced to life imprisonment within the penal system in French Guiana. En route, he meets a fellow convict, Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a forger and embezzler who is convinced that his wife will secure his release. Dega hires Papillon as his bodyguard, but the two eventually develop a friendship.
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