Papillon (2017)

Something I've come across often when reading about Michael Noer's Papillon is that it is a bad remake of the 1973 film of the same name. Having read the book upon which both are based, I refuse to call this a remake. Instead, I consider it to be a different approach to the material whose outcome is barely decent, but still a notch above the "original". 

The film follows Henri Charrière (Charlie Hunnam), nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly tattoo he had on his chest, a French safecracker who is convicted of murder and is sentenced to life in the notorious penal colony in French Guyana. On his way there, he meets Louis Dega (Rami Malek), a rich, convicted forger who asks Papillon for protection. In exchange, he will finance Papillon's escape attempts.

On paper, this was a very interesting and compelling story filled with adventures and humorous moments. On film, in this one, the story is dull, most of Papillon's adventures are left out —it's a good thing to be honest, as randomly picking only some would have made for a confusing story—and so is the humour. However, unlike the 1973 film, it addresses its themes in more deeper. It puts more emphasis on solitary confinement and its consequences, both mental —it could drive a man insane— and physical —tremendous weight loss—, on male friendship —Papillon's only glimmer of hope is the unlikely friendship he forms with Dega— and loyalty in its purest form.

As for the characters, they deserved better as this film brings to life —not sure those are the right words— pretty one-dimensional characters —many of the supporting characters weren't even referred to by name, which is such a pity considering how important they are to the plot. 

There are two solid characters though, Papillon and his friend Dega, and the credits go to the actors. Although his performance isn't as good as McQueen's —he comes pretty close though—, Charlie Hunnam gives an intense and dedicated performance as Papillon —he dropped 40lbs and even stayed in the prison cell alone, without food or water for 8 days— and he is very convincing and believable as the resilient man who never gives up on hope and freedom. Rami Malek is excellent as Dega, the nervous but optimistic intellectual —I actually enjoyed his performance more than Hoffman's— and his chemistry with Hunnam is incredible, and easily surpasses that between McQueen and Hoffman. 

Bleecker Street

As for the visual aspect, the cinematography is very good and successfully captures both the beauty of the cities and the jungle and the brutality, bleakness of the prison, and helps to portray the fight scenes with a sense of dread and sadness, without glorifying violence, which is something movies tend to do nowadays. Also, this version, unlike the 1973 one, is well-edited.