MovieChat Forums > Papillon (1973) Discussion > Confused... Please help (Spoilers)

Confused... Please help (Spoilers)

posted 12 years ago by Useful_Reviewer
4 replies | jump to latest

I just watched Papillon. I was paying close attention, but I must have missed something. I was following the story well until... Papillon, Dega, and the other guy are escaping in a boat. They land on a beach where I think they were going to tend to Dega's leg. But wait... there are soldiers, or cops, or somebody in uniforms yelling at them in Spanish. They try to ignore it, but the uniformed guys fire a warning shot. Papillon throws a small hatchet into one man's chest, then takes off into the woods. The uniformed party gives chase, and they catch him. They strap him to their boat, and... um... take him to a tropical island where he's not only free, but being handfed by a topless woman, who apparently becomes his lover. Uh... what? Why did they deliver him to an island where he'd be treated like that? And how do I get captured by someone who will take me to such an island?

When I was your age, television was called books!

[–] sfgiantsboy 12 years ago

Watch it again carefully. The soldiers chase him and he frees another prisoner that the soldiers had captured. They run into the woods and the soldiers chase them both. The soldiers hire natives to help track them down. The natives then kill the other prisoner but shoot poison darts at papillon. He falls into the river and lands on the island with the topless women.

[–] Useful_Reviewer 12 years ago

Thanks for the answer. So you're saying he just washed up to the island after being shot with the darts? I can't watch it again right now because I got the DVD from Netflix and had to send it back already. I could have sworn though, that between his getting shot with darts, and his being nurtured by topless women, there was a brief (maybe 3 seconds) scene where he was facedown on a raft, with the camera below, looking up at him. And I thought he was tied to the raft. I couldn't see the ropes he was tied with, so I suppose he could have simply been unconscious on the raft. But who put him on it? Surely I didn't imagine that raft. Perhaps it was just some bamboo he grabbed and floated on?

Your answer makes a lot more sense than what I thought I saw though.

Thanks again.

When I was your age, television was called books!

[–] sfgiantsboy 12 years ago

You're welcome, I have seen this movie many times and I do recall the scene. I do not believe he was tied to a raft, I think he just grabbed some bamboo and floated on while half concious and then happened to land at the beach.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

It is a little confusing IMO, because he falls into what looks like a pool but must be a river after being shot by the darts and then wakes up at the natives' beach or island. You have to assume he drifted there somehow, but it's not actually shown.

I certainly didn't see him tied to a raft.