What a weird movie. It probably helped my appreciation for this film that I haven't seen the 1973 original -- or maybe not -- but I found it pleasantly diverting and endlessly frustrating, an altogether entertaining way to spend a mindless evening after work.
Papillon, so named for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is a Parisian safecracker who is framed for murder and shipped off to a penal colony in French Guiana. It would seem that Papillon's innocence inspires him to endure, survive, and escape, but the problem with that: he's not innocent. Charlie Hunnam plays the character as a brutish thug with hopes for escape. There's no redemption for him, though his character is not necessarily a bad person. He immediately connects with a slim, awkward counterfeiter named Louis Dega, played by Rami Malek, though his initial reasoning is based on hearing that Dega is wealthy and connected. Protect him from the wolves, Papi knows, and he'll owe you later.
At this point, when traditionally the plot builds into adventure upon escape attempt upon grand violence, the film shifts into completely unexpected territory. True enough that the film is rather violent and even quite exciting, but I'd argue that the central point of the film is an unlikely romance between these two men. We're never shown anything erotic or flirtatious, but their striking intimacy is something at once disturbing and endearing. It's not wholly platonic, either, but complex due to their time, place, and incarceration. It's a sort of Beauty and the Beast tale, except that they're both prisoners, wherein they each endure hardship and suffering and separation but always manage to come back to each other.
Gorgeously shot and starring two strong lead performances, the film suffers considerably from a lack of compelling plot as well as any deep consideration of its weighty themes. We're tossed about from scene to scene, lengthy time passes in the blink of an eye, and what could (and probably should) have been a profound meditation on the souls of men in torment becomes an unwieldy adventure-drama that neither wallows in its torturous excesses nor leads to any transcendent sense of redemption or freedom or victory. In fact, the romance was so strong that by the end, I was begging Papi aloud not to leave sweet Dega alone on Devil's Island. (SPOILER ALERT) He did, and I was angry at him for it. That's not, I suspect, the filmmakers' intention.
It could have been a sort of Count of Monte Cristo-meets-Shawshank Redemption, and while I'm glad it's not terribly derivative, I can't help but wonder, "Why this movie, and why now?" The film does not offer any answers.
IMDb: Papillon
No comments:
Post a Comment