Papillon

Spoiler alert! Please do not read the following plot summary if you have not seen the film.Henri "Papillon" Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is framed for murder. Though he has an alibi from his lover, Nenette, Papillon is convicted and condemned to the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island in French Guiana — a hellish prison from which nobody has escaped.

On the boat to South America, Papillon meets a quirky counterfeiter named Louis Dega. That evening Dega is awakened as two convicts murder a prisoner sleeping next to him in order to cut open his stomach and steal the money he had swallowed. Papillon forms an unlikely alliance with Dega, who is targeted by the other prisoners who suspect him of also hiding money. Papillon saves Louis' life and is punished for fighting by the guards. In exchange for Papillon's protection, Louis agrees to finance Papillon's escape, ultimately resulting in a bond of lasting friendship.

While Papillon and Dega are tasked to carry away a guillotined body, a guard starts to whip Dega. Papillon strikes the guard with a rock and runs into the jungle for his first escape. He is given two years of silent solitary confinement. After the warden learns he has been receiving extra food, his rations are cut in half. Papillon does not betray Dega.

The second escape plan is made from the prison infirmary. Papillon is feigning insanity from his confinement. Dega is an aide to the warden and still has money to fund the escape. Celier has a connection to get a boat. The sexually abused Maturette is the fourth to join the dangerous venture. Dega gets the guards drunk and the four escape over the walls to a boat. As a storm approaches, it is clear they will not all survive in the small leaky boat. Celier wants to kill the injured Dega but in the battle it is Celier who dies. Next the three survivors find themselves being cared for in a Colombian convent. Their apparent freedom is short lived because the Mother Superior turns them in. Papillon gets five years in solitary confinement.

Papillon is released as a weathered older man on Devil's Island with high cliffs. He finds Dega who has adjusted to prison life and he has no interest in escape. A fall from the cliffs is certain death. Papillon bags coconuts together for a raft and in a swell of waves he survives the fall. The third escape is a success and he is a free man. He writes a memoir. The movie postscript tells of the book's release with the French government inviting him back to France.