http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Express_%28film%29
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c55e4_4807

In 1970 American student Billy Hayes is busted in Istanbul for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey.  He escapes in 1975 writes a book about his experiences.

Oliver Stone writes a screenplay based on the book.  The 1978 film "Midnight Express" wins acclaim and awards, but is also crticized for hyping the violence, underplaying the gay romance Billy has in prison, and playing up negative stereotypes of Turks.

I saw this movie when I was too young.  I didn't understand the politics and the violence was a little traumatizing for me. 

I came to enjoy the film later on.  The physical brutality is stark and nasty, but the suspense and themes of betrayal are much more terrifying.  Giorgio Moroder's electronic score helps things along. 

The real life Billy Hayes is among the critics who say the film shows no good Turks. 

As you can see from the interview, Hayes had Turkish friends and found most of the prison guards to be humane. 
Perhaps I'm misreading the character, but the lower court judge seemed like a good guy.  He would have let Billy go, but, as he said, "My hands are tied by Ankara."  The prosecution won its appeal to increase the charge to smuggling, which carried a 30-year sentence.

I didn't get the impression all Turks were brutes.  Prison is terrible most places.  I see it more as an international political issue.  There was a wave of paranoia about drugs and terrorism in the early 1970s.  It was also the Nixon Administration that wanted to make an example out of Billy. 

I suppose you could make an art house picture based on the book, but in 1978 audiences were not ready for a slow-paced film about gay lovers in a Turkish prison.  Thus, they wrote in Billy's girlfriend and put more action and violence into the plot.

Thoughts?
???

It's been years since I saw the movie, but I really enjoyed it.  Actor Brad Davis (who portrayed Hayes) passed away from Aids in the early 90s.  I always wondered if he would have been a massive star today

I watched the movie when it came out, and have seen it several times in the years since.  I always thought the movie was very well done...and I liked Davis playing Billy Hayes.


Actor Brad Davis (who portrayed Hayes) passed away from Aids in the early 90s.  I always wondered if he would have been a massive star today.


Yes, I believe he acquired the disease using tainted needles for drugs...

Those Middle Eastern countries are no picnic, and I'm sure that they can be even more brutal in the prisons than the film could show.

I remember seeing the movie when it came out.  The thing I remember most was being impressed by an actor name John Hurt, to me he was the best part of the movie.  I also remember thinking that Billy Hayes had to be a supreme idiot.