Papillon is a 1973 epic historical drama prison film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. was based on the 1969 autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière. The film stars Steve McQueen as Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Because it was filmed at remote locations, the film was quite expensive for the time ($12 million), but it earned more than twice that in its first year of release. The film's title is French for "Butterfly," referring to Charrière's tattoo and nickname. Plot Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), is a safecracker nicknamed "Papillon" because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest. In 1933 France, he is "wrongly" convicted of murdering a pimp and is sentenced to life imprisonment within the penal system in French Guiana. En route, he meets a fellow convict, Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), an infamous forger and embezzler who is convinced that his wife will secure his release. Papillon offers to protect Dega if he will fund the former's escape once they reach Guiana. Enduring the horrors of life in a jungle labor camp, the two eventually become friends. 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. In gratitude, Dega has extra food smuggled to Papillon. When the smuggling is discovered, the warden screens Papillon's cell in darkness for six months and halves his rations, believing that it will force him to reveal his benefactor. Half-insane and reduced to eating insects to survive, Papillon refuses to give up Dega's name. He is eventually released and sent to the infirmary in St-Laurent-du-Maroni to recover. Papillon sees Dega again and asks him to arrange for another escape attempt. Dega helps him meet an inmate doctor, who offers to secure him a boat on the outside with the help of a man named Pascal. Fellow prisoner Clusiot (Woodrow Parfrey) and a gay orderly named André Maturette (Robert Deman) join the escape plot. During the escape, Clusiot is knocked unconscious by a guard; Dega is forced to subdue the guard and reluctantly joins Papillon and Maturette, climbing the walls to the outside. Dega fractures his ankle in the fall. The trio meet Pascal and they escape into the night. In the jungle the next day, Pascal delivers the prisoners to their boat, but after he