Sony Pictures | 1978 | 121 mins | Rated R
Alan Parker has directed a number of well known films including Fame (1980), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Mississippi Burning (1988) and Evita (1996). However, his greatest achievement in film is likely 1978’s Midnight Express, based on Billy Hayes’ book of the same name and a screenplay by Oliver Stone. Nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture, the film tells the story of Hayes harrowing experiences in a Turkish prison. Parker allows Oliver Stone’s screenplay and Brad Davis’ performance as Hayes to speak for themselves and avoids resorting to dramatic gimmickry to create a sense of tension. More than thirty years after its initial theatrical release, Midnight Express remains one of the most poignant stories of human suffering ever captured on film.
American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), is caught trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey on October 6, 1970. Just moments before he was to board his plane back to the United States, authorities find the drug strapped to his body. Hayes is detained in Turkey, while his girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle) is allowed to fly home. He agrees to cooperate by identifying the man who sold him the drugs but is shocked, when he is ultimately sentenced to four years and two months in a dark and harsh prison.
Billy learns the harsh realities of life in a Turkish prison almost immediately; he is severely beaten after taking a blanket from the next cell. As the days go by, he meets several other foreigners, including an American named Jimmy (Randy Quaid), Erich (Norbert Weisser), and Max (John Hurt). Jimmy teaches Billy some of the basic rules of the environment. Jimmy explains that it’s less punishable offense if you stab someone below the waist. Therefore, prisoners are regular stabbed in the buttocks. As Billy explains in a voiceover, homosexuality is viewed as the ultimate sin but everybody does it. Billy is eventually raped by a guard. Max is a drug addicted lifer who has spent so long in the Turkish prison system, he seems to blend into the gray walls. As his release date approaches, Billy learns that he is to be made an example and his sentence has been extended another thirty years. It becomes clear that his only chance at freedom is a through the “midnight express,” or escape.
Director Alan Parker and screenwriter Oliver Stone never shrink away from the sadistic horror of the story. The audience is taken deep into Hayes’ psyche as the prison walls slowly begin to cave in and break him down. It becomes clear that we are slowly watching Billy lose his mind, as loss of hope and despair overwhelm him. Brad Davis’ performance is remarkable; the late actor displays a broad spectrum of emotions and effectively captures the physical and emotional disintegration Hayes experienced in prison. Although some people may initially feel unsympathetic towards Billy, because he did attempt to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the country, Davis’ portrayal makes it clear that the punishment didn’t fit the crime.
The entire film is filled with poignant moments and strong acting by Davis. However, one moment stands above the rest: desperate for freedom, Hayes makes a moving, impassioned plea to a Turkish judge before being re-sentenced to an additional 30 years in prison. The desperation is evident in his voice, eyes and throughout his entire body. Davis’ work is often overlooked when discussing cinemas performances but his turn as Billy Hayes deserves further consideration.
Midnight Express is not a flashy film. One of the reasons it works so well is that it draws audiences in on the merits of its story. Alan Parker employs tension, danger and sadistic undertones that make the film both freighting and engrossing. The director doesn’t have to use clichés and special effects to liven up the story. Parker simply focuses his camera and allows Davis and the other actors to tell the tale. Also adding to the experience is Giorgio Moroder’s Academy Award winning score that enhances the story.
Despite its strengths, Midnight Express has become somewhat controversial in recent years. While the film was based on a true story, some artistic liberties were taken. The movie deviates from the book’s accounts of the story, especially in its portrayal of Turks, to such a level that many have criticized the movie version, including Billy Hayes himself. Later both Oliver Stone and Billy Hayes expressed their regret on how Turkish people were portrayed in the movie. In 1999, Hayes expressed his regret that the film “depicts all Turks as monsters.” Director Alan Parker addresses the issue of “truth” versus “fiction” in his essay Anatomy of a Film: The Making of Midnight Express (included as part of the Blu-ray release of the film): “Certainly it was based on a true story. But that didn’t mean that it was a true story.” Parker continues with a discussion on the fallibility of memory and probability that dramatic license was taken in Hayes’ own autobiographical account, penned with the help of ghostwriter William Hoffer. Speaking of Oliver Stone’s contribution, Parker writes: “Oliver Stone wrote his screenplay and undoubtedly moved further away from the original ‘truth,’ adding his own unique slant to the proceedings.”
Whatever the controversy, Midnight Express remains one of the most riveting explorations of the human psyche on film to date. The film’s final shot, the sight of Billy walking away from the prison framed in a long zoom lens, just might be the first time you take a deep breath in 121 minutes.
Midnight Express arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The Blu-ray delivers a solid picture quality faithful to its source. A few artifacts are visible here and there but they don’t interfere with the viewing experience. The print is generally blemish-free and contains a moderately high amount of film grain that offers to the picture a film-like appearance. Midnight Express is a dark, lifeless movie, reflective of the setting and tone of the drama. Colors are drab, details can appear a bit hazy at times and neither sharpness nor depth are all that noteworthy. Fine details are adequately reproduced, primarily in the form of grimy prison walls and rusted iron bars. Flesh tones look fine in context but blacks occasionally drown out detail or, at other times, look too bright. However, given the setting of Midnight Express, this is a solid transfer.
Midnight Express features both lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and lossy Dolby Digital mono soundtracks. The Lossless track improves upon the mono offering by delivering increased clarity and resolution but the additional channels don’t necessarily mean an abundance of extra sonic activity. The lossless track remains centered straight up the center chanel with little sent to the adjoining speakers. Music often plays with little in the way of volume at reference levels. Dialogue is reproduced efficiently throughout. Like the picture quality, Midnight Express‘ lossless soundtrack impresses in context.
Midnight Express has several special features:
• Commentary Track by Director Alan Parker: Parker discusses the project and how he came to be involved, the Academy-Award winning score, shooting techniques and locations, the themes, the actors and some of the controversy surrounding the film.
• The Producers (1080i, 25:54) features Producers Peter Guber, David Puttnam, and Alan Marshall speaking on a broad range of topics about how the film came together, including their initial involvement with the idea and script, the assembly of the cast and crew, the process of screening the completed film, the film’s legacy, etc.
• The Production (1080i, 24:28) features more interviews, this time with Director Alan Parker; Producers David Puttnam, Peter Guber, and Alan Marshall; Billy Hayes; Writer Oliver Stone; and Actor John Hurt. They discuss Stone’s screenplay; the cast, their performances, and signing a largely unknown actor to play the leading role; the shooting locations; the crew; and the challenges of the shoot.
• The Finished Film (1080i, 23:48) Director Parker, Actor Hurt, Producers Marshall and Guber, and Writer Stone further discuss the acting, the look of the film, the soundtrack and score, the editing process, the film’s themes, regrets, and the controversies that surround the film.
• The Making of Midnight Express (480p, 7:27) is a vintage piece that looks briefly at the story, the politics surrounding it, and contains plenty of clips from the film and interviews with Billy Hayes, Williams Hayes, Sr., Producer Guber.
• Photo Gallery (1080i, 12:40).
• The digibook contains the aforementioned 32-page essay, Anatomy of a Film: The Making of Midnight Express, with full color photographs.
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