Papillon
Henri Charrière, a safecracker known as "Papillon," is falsely convicted of murder in 1930s France and sentenced to life imprisonment at the notorious penal colony in French Guiana. On the voyage there, he forms an alliance with fellow convict Louis Dega, a wealthy forger who offers to finance Papillon's escape attempts in exchange for protection from other inmates. Papillon endures brutal conditions, solitary confinement, and torture, but his spirit of freedom remains unbroken as he repeatedly tries to escape, often with Dega's help or involvement. Each failed attempt leads to harsher punishment and transfers to more remote and inescapable islands, including the dreaded Devil's Island. Decades pass, and Papillon, now an old man, makes one final, daring escape attempt from Devil's Island by leaping from a cliff into the ocean on a makeshift raft of coconut sacks, finally finding his freedom after years of relentless struggle.