"Un Papillon Sur L'épaule" is a quiet thriller which depicts why an honest man always gets involved in shady deals. It allows us to question whether it is due to unforeseen circumstances which force an honest man to go astray or is it something in an honest man's disposition that he cannot evade dangers. According to this film,the plight of the honest man is really strange as despite all heroic fights, he is the one who emerges as the ultimate loser. There is hardly anything in his control to change events and circumstances as he is merely a puppet as the strings are with somebody else. In this film, Jacques Deray has made an effective use of dream, hallucination and reality to portray a hapless man whose destiny is crisscrossed by these very elements. Lino Ventura gives a very restrained performance in his role of an ordinary French citizen who loses his life in a hostile Spain.Although actress Nicole Garcia has a very limited role, she manages to garner viewers' sympathy as the wife of a man who directs all possible efforts in rescuing her husband from the clutches of invisible forces.