Take One (Sep-Oct 1972)

City of Planet of the Apes, the desperate living conditions and ramshackle way of life of Patton, the opulence and scope of Nicholas and Alexandra. Papillon moves from the narrow streets of France to the overgrown undergrowth of various South American countries where the title character suffers, escapes, suffers, escapes and suffers and escapes, always placed against a backdrop of such intense reality that one becomes his cell mate in solitary, his companion on the high seas, his very essence at each moment of freedom. Just as Lean’s Lawrence and Zhivago, and Schaffner’s Patton and Nicholas and Alexandra copped Art Direction honors in their respective years, Anthony Masters is assured of an Oscar for this work, which took over a year to research and six months to construct. DELSON: Having taken such care in the preparation of the “Look” of the film, and having cast McQueen and Hoffman, and_ basically coming down to thirteen million dollars at the line, why did you change the shape of the book on film? SCHAFFNER: In the book, as s00n as Papillon arrives at the prison, he goes into the hospital with some kind of self-induced liver disorder, and four weeks later he escapes for almost two years. The VANCOUVER 916 Davie St. Vancouver 1, B.Gs Tel. (604) 682-4646 30 he Canadian sonnection. — , that can only mean ans top quality skills. fessionals. On everything se printing in all formats. ers have the greatest sound studio work, around about Bellevue-Pathé. id friends are : umbia Warner Bros. ettin Northcliffe Ave. 65 Weizman St. real 260, Que. (514) 484-1186 whole odyssey he takes was very early in the book. It seemed to me that in context, unless one knew what it was like to be in prison in French Guiana, that the odyssey didn’t mean anything. Therefore we made that rather important adjustment up front, getting him there and exposing him to the hardship so that the overhang of the penalty for escape was one that the audience had to live with too. The script is very consciously structured on three acts. Three styles of storytelling. The first is quite realistic. The second is a good deal less realistic than that. A good deal larger than life. It is an odyssey. It is Homeric and so forth. The last section is a bizarre, soft, tender, albeit brief examination of what has happened to these two characters as a result of what nine years of this kind of awful life can do to a man. Who settles for it, and who continues to resist it. What are the things that make Papillon succeed? Jerry Goldsmith's score, reminiscent of his Planet of the Apes music; Fred Koenekamp’s_inspired colour photography, mixing hues of jungle, prison and the taste of slavery; Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr.’s sparse yet telling screen TEL-AVIV — Tel. 722-111 Inside every film review, there’s some information trying to get out... ...and most of it gets into the MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN complete credits, accurate synopses and informed reviews of every feature film released commercially or independently WHY NOT TAKE ONE? play; Anthony Master’s already mentioned production design; Robert Swink’s attention to Schaffner’s three act pacing; certainly a bevy of first rate supporting performances, including Woody Parfrey’s Clusiot and Anthony Zerbe’s Toussaint the leper, and the faultless leads by McQueen and Hoffman, among the best of the year in all respects. Finally we come to the man who put the whole deal together. Frank Schaffner has risked a lot on this film. He has assembled a great set of stars on both sides of the camera, given them time, money and a good deal of freedom to create an epic that is more than an epic. Despite early reviews to the contrary, |. believe Papillion will be more than a successful box office attraction. Lean set the standards for desert films in Lawrence, epic drama with Zhivago, and obsession with Kwai. Nicholas and Alexandra was Schaffner’s answer to Zhivago, Patton his out-manoeuvering of Lawrence, and now Papillon his comeback to Kwai. Three each. Schaffner’s future projects are up in the air, but Papillon is firmly entrenched as his best work to date. James Delson James Delson, a partner in Cinema Commentary Associates, divides his time between running his film research archive, writing free-lance for magazines, doing a weekly radio program on film, and the other aspects of the mythic cinematic arts. He is currently writing his first screenplay, Oasis. in Great Britain plus some of the more interesting shorts and a regular ‘checklist’ filmography Subscriptions (&2.50/$6.75 for one year, £4.60/$12.70 for two years) or a free specimen copy available from: PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT (TO) BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE 81 DEAN STREET LONDON W1V 6AA ENGLAND