I remember, when I had first joined a library for reading fiction books, I was quite thrilled when I used to see books that went beyond a thousand pages and would invariably pick that FAT book particularly when there was a girl or two in the library at the same time!(teenage)
The Henry Charriere written Papillon was by far the fattest book around the year 1979 - 80!
I picked it up and saw big butterfly on it and was impressed with the fact that the name of the book meant butterfly like in the broader sense!
I curled up with the book and then was so impressed that I had to see the film. It was rated parental guidance for use of profanity and partial nudity! The film may have hit Indian shores but I was at that time too busy sorting my professional advances! I did see the VCD soem time back and now had to see the DVD to write about it!
The book, by far, is a far superior read than the film!
The reason for this, as I understand is as follows;
*Director: Franklin J Schaffner
Filmography: The Planet of The Apes, Patton and much more pre birth era(mine)
The Boys From Brazil, Sphinx, Lionheart etc. His last film was Welcome Home in 1989.(courtesy imdb.com)
Of the above The Planet of The Apes is the only title you would probably distinctly remember, because for the period 1968, it was a magnum opus in making terms only! Long in duration and very slow to pick up as well. It was a ruminating experience!
*I still think he was a good Director.
*What is Papillon? Papillon is a word given to the butterfly like shape of a cocker spaniel with long fur coats. The main protagonist Papillon is also shown long furry(long bearded) and butterfly like. I failed to identify that part at all!
So when you have a book which was incidentally a blockbuster, you tend to go over board to make a film grander than the book and then fail miserably because the thought is not justified on a platform which has a limited screening time!
We have had prison break films that have been maybe fictional or real but they have touched a raw nerve somewhere. Escape from Alcatraz(Clint Eastwood) etc. Now when you know that you have planned an odyssey like a prison break you need to have a script that would leave the audience spellbound! But the duration had to be short and the film had to have pace for the viewer to enjoy the happenings, after all a prison break is quite a thrilling topic! The duration of this film is a studious and quite dragging 150 minutes plus! It is quite an adrenaline rush to visit the plans of the escape, the disturbances by way of sudden appearances of people unexpectedly and the sheer timing of guards on duty going wrong that day. Its all in a days work!
Now you may ask, the film had to be long considering the book which itself is about 1000 pages plus? I say that the adaptation of the book to a film format needs to be limited to the basic background of say 5 to 7 minutes establishing characters location and the characters themselves! Take the constrcution of the strory that leads to the procedure of hatching the plot, garnering equipments and people to support and oppose at about 20 minutes. The actual progress in terms of overcoming last minute planning snags and soemone being on the plan to snitch about it to authorities about 20 minutes more. and the climax needs to be built on the entire action, the reaction to the break and the retaliation and then of course the victory lap. approximately 40 minutes! We are talking about ahealthy 87 to 90 minutes. Not a whopping 150 minutes!
Okay, I am no expert at adaptations but I am a man who recognises a good cinema and bad cinema! The book had no limitations and hence the mystery build up surrounding the central charcters of Charriere, Steve Mcqueen and Louis Dega, Dustin Hoffman had to be of the magnitude of the best stars to be cast in this film.
The premise of the book and the film are very simple. Escape from Devil’s Island prison which is armed to the teeth by guards who are notorious for shooting first than sounding a warning, its like a fortress and its impossible to think about getting out of there! Establishing such an ominous situation is not a task but shooting it definitely is! The sets, the crew, the lighting, the art decor and the cast. all add to the cost of shooting budgets!
While Schaffner may have had a time bomb ticking in terms of an explosive book(termed as a true story), I think he was uncertain about the success of the film caose he opted for a very costly start cast even at that time. **He opted for stars period!
Such a lengthy exercise to show the characters, only two in number, should not be offered! The screenplay of such a book had to be exhaustive, not the fault of the director because establishing Louis, Hoffman’s character, would be quite long itself. He had to be established as a KING of counterfeiting, and also had to establish the fact that the outside world is baying for his blood becuase of his dealings!
*Two intelligent characters have gone to waste and with it the film as well. I was not impressed with the filming at all. though the cast is to die for!
I would still reco it for the purpose of the effort, humoungous! But would not go beyond that at all!
*Watch it if you want to, but prefer to curl up with the book I will not blame you at all. Finally when the dogged acts of McQueen and Dega were over, I was relieved to leave the DVD alone! phew.
Sajith, this is entirely my view on the film. You may or may not see it after this, but my suggestion is to read this book first and then watch the film! I am sure you will agree with my views. For you!*