"You're guilty! But your crime is the worst of all. You're guilty of living a wasted life!"

One of the key lines of Franklin J Schaffner's 1973 classic Papillon aptly sums up the mood of this harrowing, brutal and yet somehow uplifting saga.

Based on the 1969 international bestselling autobiographical novel by Henri Charriere, this mega-budget, but understated, character study has always been a favourite of mine, not just becuase I am a huge fan of its star, Steve McQueen, but also because of the book itself, easily one of my top five favourite pieces of literature ever published.

The film was shown (in original print format, with lots of jumps and cigarette burns to boot) at the BFI last week as part of its McQueen season, and, as any friend of mine will tell you, this was an event I probably would have cancelled my own wedding day to be a part of.

Papillon tells the unforgettable story of former safecracker Charriere (McQueen), who is convicted for a murder he never committed and sentenced to imprisonment at the notorious French correctional facility at Devil's Island.

Once behind bars, Charriere (known as Papillon due to the butterfly tattoo adorning his chest) plots his first escape attempt, and thus begins an endless, heart-breaking odyssey, as the convicted man plots escape after escape, only to be thwarted by those eager to exploit and blackmail him.

His yearning to be a free man is the most powerful force evident within the movie, and drives the narrative forward, through Papillon's many adventures as he attempts to defy his captors.

A dark, yet compelling story, Papillon is both a proper old-school, hard-hitting action film, and an unnerving psychological drama. The graphic scenes where the protagonist is subjected to brutal treatment from prison guards are outdone by the purposefully slow bits where Charriere is held in solitary confinement and struggles to keep a grip on his sanity.

However, for me the film is all about McQueen. Like I say, I'm a big fan of the King of Cool, and rank Papillon, as well as Bullitt, The Getaway and The Cincinatti Kid, among my all-time favourite flicks, but I'd still be the first to admit that McQueen is a limited actor. In many ways, he is a movie star first, and an actor second, in the mould of action stars such as John Wayne, Sly Stallone and Charles Bronson.

However, this minimalist appraoch is well and truly cast aside in Papillon, where McQueen proves an inspired casting choice, adopting a method style and making the role every inch his own. Maybe this dramatic shift occurred because he was competing with, and inspired by, the always excellent Dustin Hoffman, who offers brilliant support in the role of Louis Dega, Papillon's friend and fellow escapee.

Indeed, many of the film's best moments deal with the friendship between these two very different men. Papillon, the tough, streetwise gangster scared of nothing and no one, and Dega, the wealthy, well-educated forger, caught up in a world he wants no part of.

As I find myself saying with increasing regularity these days - they just don't make them like that anymore!