One day, Papillon defends Dega from a sadistic guard and escapes into the jungle but is captured and sentenced to two years in solitary confinement.

From a high cliff, Papillon observes a cove where he realizes the waves are powerful enough to carry a man out to sea and to the nearby mainland.

Continental Distributing won the rights for $500,000, with the intent to hire Roman Polanski as director and Warren Beatty as lead actor, but the studio's funding fell through.

It sold the rights to producer Robert Dorfmann, who initially intended to hire Terence Young as director and Charles Bronson as star, before turning to Franklin J. Schaffner and Steve McQueen.

[13] In addition, author Henri Charrière acted as consultant on location, apprising the filmmakers of the things he encountered during his years of imprisonment.

[14] Footage of the historic prison in French Guiana plays under the end credits, which is shown to be abandoned and covered in jungle growth.

[15] The film marked Goldsmith's fourth (of seven) collaboration with director Franklin J. Schaffner, following his Academy Award-nominated scores to Planet of the Apes and Patton.

[citation needed] Goldsmith's compositions, characterized by a late romantic symphonic and impressionistic style suffused with a metered, exotic timbre (using instruments from Caribbean folk music), are distributed mainly in the second half of the film.

The DVD of the English-language version of the film includes an option to listen to Goldsmith's music as an isolated audio track.

He said that the main flaw was a failure to gain audience interest in McQueen's and Hoffman's characters: "You know something has gone wrong when you want the hero to escape simply so that the movie can be over.

"[21] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "a big, brave, stouthearted, sometimes romantic, sometimes silly melodrama with the kind of visual sweep you don't often find in movies anymore.

[24] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "'Papillon' is an eloquent tribute to the indomitability of the human spirit and a powerful indictment of those institutions dedicated only to breaking it.

"[25] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "a keen disappointment ... this lumbering vehicle directed by Franklin J. Schaffner leaves Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman stranded on the screen while opportunities for vivid filmmaking and sympathetic characterizations are bungled at every turn.

"[26] Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "what is missing is any of the book's anger at the outrageous hypocrisy, injustice and inhumanity of the system; any of the passion which feeds Papillon's compulsion to escape.

It contains maybe McQueen's finest serious acting moment on film, when he sticks his head out of the solitary confinement door and is not only unrecognizable but completely deranged.

The film's also not a little pretentious, self consciously arty, unrelentingly grim, extremely grueling and except for Dustin Hoffman keeping a bankroll and an extra pair of spectacles up his ass, completely devoid of any entertainment value.

[29] In 1974, the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (Jerry Goldsmith) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor, Drama (Steve McQueen).

[citation needed] The song, "Human Insecticide", by the Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator from their 1989 album, Alice in Hell, was inspired by this film.

[citation needed] Mark Kozelek and Desertshore recorded a song called "Hey You Bastards I'm Still Here", named after Papillon's last quote from the film, spoken in voiceover before the closing credits start.