Papillon a movie about brotherhood
Remake of cult classic is a fact-based tale that’s worth retelling
In our contemporary insipid remake culture, one’s first reaction might be to grimace at the thought of updating the 1973 Steve McQueen classic “Papillon,” a film which was not particularly well-received by critics upon its initial release but which has since solidified into a cult classic, much to the masculine bravado and timeless cool of its star.
While Hollywood continues to tack on mediocre addendums to formerly mediocre franchises (one need only look to the most overrated of these, the “Star Wars” films) naturally, one might expect Michael Noer’s refashioning of this epic true story of a prison break in South America to follow suit.
However, it is the enduring appeal of “Papillon”’s human drama, that of the resilience of the human spirit and the quest for authentic freedom which makes this story worth retelling.
Based on Henri (Papillon) Charrière’s 1969 autobiography of the same name, the film presents an account of Charrière’s miraculous escape from the notorious Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guyana in 1941 with the help of another convict, a counterfeiter by the name of Louis Degas (played by “Mr. Robot”’s Rami Malek, soon slated to appear in the role of Freddy Mercury in the anticipated biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”).
Falsely convicted of the mur-
Listings for Oct. 23 to 29
Papillon (2018): Tuesday 7 p.m., Friday 9 p.m., Saturday 6:30 p.m. The Wife: Friday 6:30 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m., Sunday 7 p.m. Bad Reputation: Wednesday 7 p.m., Saturday 9 p.m.
Three Identical Strangers: Thursday 7 p.m.
The Silence of the Lambs: Saturday 11:30 p.m. (Halloween special screening)
Don’t Look Now (1973): Sunday 4 p.m.