‘Pa pill on’ re make opening

The French word for butterfly is “papillon.” Forty-five years ago, “Papillon,” a historical prison film based on the 1969 autobiography by French convict Henri Charrière, was released in theatres. That film starred the incredible Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière (nick named “Papillon,” probably due to his butterfly tattoo) and the relative newcomer Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega.

Well this week, we proudly present an updated look at the incredible story — this time around starring Charlie Hunnam (“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”, “Lost City of Z”) as the lead character, and Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”) as Louis Dega. The 2018 version is rated 14A with a violence warning. It is 133 minutes in length and will show daily at 12:50, 3:40 and 6:30 p.m.

Bleecker Street films states this about their film: “Based on the international best-selling autobiographic books ‘Papillon’ and ‘Banco,’ the film follows the epic story of Henri “Papillon” Charrière (Charlie Hunnam), a safecracker from the Parisian underworld who is framed for murder and condemned to life in the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island. Determined to regain his freedom, Papillon forms an unlikely alliance with a convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who in exchange for protection, agrees to finance Papillon’s escape.”

I am looking forward to taking in this updated version of this classic story, and to relive the story of a man wrongly imprisoned (at least for the wrong crime), who suffered tremendously — yet refused to give up and lose hope — against all odds.

I hope you enjoy. See you at the movie theatre!

Please feel free to contact me with your comments or feedback — even an idea for an article — len@moviemill.com. Hope to see you at the movies!

Associated Press photo This image released by Bleecker Street shows Charlie Hunnam in a scene from “Papillon.”

Leonard Binning operates the Movie Mill and is a past president of the Motion Picture Theatre Assoc. of Alberta. His column appears each Thursday.