''Midnight Express'' is a 1978

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

and adapted by

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

from Billy Hayes's 1977 memoir of the same name. The film centers on Hayes (played by Brad Davis), a young American student, who is sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle

hashish Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...

out of the country. The film's title is prison slang for his escape attempt. The cast also features Irene Miracle,

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

, Bo Hopkins, Paul L. Smith and Randy Quaid. Upon release, ''Midnight Express'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Many praised Davis's performance as well as the cast, the writing, the direction, and the musical score by

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...

. Hayes and others criticized the film for portraying the Turkish prison men as violent and villainous and for deviating too much from the source material. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Parker at the 51st Academy Awards in 1979, and won Best Adapted Screenplay for Stone and Best Original Score for Moroder. It also won six Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

for Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (for Hurt).

Plot

On vacation in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, on 6 October 1970, American college student Billy Hayes straps of hashish bricks to his chest. As he and his girlfriend Susan are about to board a plane back to the US, Billy is frisked by soldiers (who are on high alert for terrorist attacks) who discover the drug. Billy is then arrested by the police and strip-searched. A shadowy American — whom Billy nicknames "Tex" for his thick Texan accent — arrives and accompanies Billy to a police station and translates for him. Billy claims he bought the hashish from a taxicab driver. He offers to help police locate the driver in exchange for being released. At a nearby market, Billy points out the driver to police, who arrest him, but they have no intention of releasing Billy. He attempts to escape, only to be recaptured at gunpoint by Tex. During his first night in Sultanahmet Jail, a freezing-cold Billy sneaks out of his cell and steals a blanket. He is later rousted from his cell and brutally beaten by chief guard Hamidou for the theft. A few days later, Billy awakens in Sağmalcılar Prison, surrounded by fellow Western prisoners Jimmy (an American who stole two candlesticks from a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

), Max (an English heroin addict), and Erich (a Swedish drug smuggler). Jimmy warns Billy that the prison is dangerous for foreigners and says no one can be trusted, not even young children. Billy meets with his father, a U.S. representative, and a Turkish lawyer to discuss his situation. During Billy's trial, the prosecutor makes a case against him for drug smuggling. The lead judge is sympathetic to Billy and gives him a four-year sentence for drug possession. Billy and his father are devastated, but their Turkish lawyer insists it is a good result because the prosecutor wanted a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

. Jimmy wants Billy to join an escape attempt through the prison's subterranean tunnels. Billy, due to be released soon, declines. Jimmy goes alone and is caught, then brutally beaten. Fifty-three days before his release, Billy learns the Turkish High Court in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

has overturned his sentence after an appeal by the prosecution. The prosecutor who originally wanted Billy convicted of smuggling rather than the lesser charge of possession finally had his way. Billy has been resentenced to serve 30 years. In desperation, Billy accompanies Jimmy and Max to try to escape through the catacombs below the prison. They give up after running into endless dead-ends. A particularly sycophantic prisoner, Rifki, who routinely acts as an informant in exchange for favors, notifies the guards about the escape attempt. Hamidou suspects Jimmy of being responsible for what happened during the first escape attempt. Jimmy is taken away again for punishment and is never seen again. Billy's imprisonment becomes harsh and brutal: terrifying scenes of physical and mental torture follow one another, and Billy has a breakdown. He brutally beats Rifki, killing him. He is sent to the prison's ward for the insane, where he wanders about in a daze among the other disturbed prisoners. Max is sent there, too. He is seen running from guards for an unknown infraction and is grabbed by Hamidou and severely injured. In 1975, Billy's girlfriend Susan visits him. Devastated by Billy's condition, she tells him he must get out or die. She leaves him a scrapbook with money hidden inside to help Billy escape. Her visit strongly helps Billy to regain his senses. Billy says goodbye to an almost dead Max, telling him to stay alive and promising he'll come back for him. Max awakens and is somewhat conscious. Billy tries to bribe Hamidou to take him to the prison hospital, but instead Hamidou forces Billy to a room, then tries to rape him. Billy becomes infuriated. They struggle until Hamidou is killed after being pushed into the wall, his head impaled upon a coat hook. Billy dons the guard's uniform and bluffs his way with his Turkish language skills, walks out of the front door and runs to freedom. The epilogue shows that in October 1975, Billy crossed the border to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and arrived home three weeks later.

Cast

Production

Although the story is set largely in Turkey, the movie was filmed almost entirely at Fort Saint Elmo in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, after permission to film in Istanbul was denied. The end credits state the movie was made entirely on location in Malta. However, background shots of Istanbul were taken by a small crew pretending to be making a cigarette commercial. A made-for-television documentary about the film, ''I'm Healthy, I'm Alive, and I'm Free'' (alternative title: ''The Making of Midnight Express''), was released on 1 January 1978. It is seven minutes long, and features commentary from the cast and crew on how they worked together during production, and the effort it took from beginning to completion. It also includes footage from the creation of the film, and Hayes's emotional first visit to the prison set.

Release

The film screened at the

1978 Cannes Film Festival The 31st Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 30 May 1978. American filmmaker Alan J. Pakula served as jury president for the main competition. Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

. It opened at the Odeon Haymarket in London on Thursday, 10 August 1978 grossing $3,472 in its opening day, a

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

record in the UK. It opened in New York on 6 October 1978 before opening nationwide in the United States on 27 October.

Home media

The film was first released on VHS and

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, and stylized as the Greek letter Beta, β in its logo) is a discontinued consumer analog Videotape, video cassette recording format developed by Sony. It was one of the main competitors in the videotape format war ag ...

by Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment in 1979. It made its DVD debut in 1998. A 30th Anniversary DVD of the film was released in 2008, and a Blu-ray was released in 2009.

Reception

According to the film

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 90% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Raw and unrelenting, ''Midnight Express'' is riveting in its realistic depiction of incarceration -- mining pathos from the simple act of enduring hardship." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave ''Midnight Express'' three stars out of four in a review that concluded, "The movie creates spellbinding terror, all right; my only objection is that it's so eager to have us sympathize with Billy Hayes."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

gave the film two and a half stars out of four and called it "a powerful film, but we leave the theater thinking it should have been more so. It was for that reason that I was persuaded to read the book, which is where I found the story I had been expecting to see on the screen." He also thought that Brad Davis "is simply not up to the lead role. He appears unsure of himself and, like the film itself, he overacts." Arthur D. Murphy of '' Variety'' wrote, "Acceptance of the film depends a lot on forgetting several things," namely that Hayes was smuggling drugs. Nevertheless, he thought Davis gave "a strong performance" and that "Alan Parker's direction and other credits are also admirable, once you swallow the specious and hypocritical story." Charles Champlin, of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', was positive, writing that the film "has a kind of wailing, arid authenticity and enormous power. It is strong and uncompromising stuff, made bearable by its artistry and the saving awareness that Hayes, at least, slipped free and lived to tell the tale." Gary Arnold, of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', described the film as "outrageously sensationalistic" and "loaded with show-stopping fabrications," and wrote of the protagonist that "there's never a compelling reason for sympathizing with the callow boy he appears to be from start to finish."

Allegations of Turkophobia

''Midnight Express'' was also criticized for its unfavorable portrayal of Turkish people. In her 1991 book ''Turkish Reflections: A Biography of Place'', Mary Lee Settle wrote: "The Turks I saw in '' Lawrence of Arabia'' and ''Midnight Express'' were like cartoon caricatures, compared to the people I had known and lived among for three of the happiest years of my life."

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...

, in reviewing the film for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', commented, "This story could have happened in almost any country, but if Billy Hayes had planned to be arrested to get the maximum commercial benefit from it, where else could he get the advantages of a Turkish jail? Who wants to defend Turks? (They don't even constitute enough of a movie market for

to be concerned about how they are represented.)" One reviewer, writing for ''World Film Directors'', wrote: "''Midnight Express'' is 'more violent, as a national hate-film than anything I can remember', 'a cultural form that narrows horizons, confirming the audience's meanest fears and prejudices and resentments'." David Denby of '' New York'' criticized ''Midnight Express'' as "merely anti-Turkish, and hardly a defense of prisoners' rights or a protest against prison conditions."Denby, D. (16 October 1978). One Touch of Mozart. '' New York'', 11(42), 123. Denby said also that all Turks in the film – guardian or prisoner – were portrayed as "losers" and "swine", and that "without exception ll the Turksare presented as degenerate, stupid slobs". The well-known Spanish film magazine '' Fotogramas'' had this to say: "One of the most sibylline exercises in

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

ever produced, and one peddled under a progressive label to boot. The true story of an American arrested in Turkey for drug trafficking becomes a nightmare resolved with a

sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...

that is impactful yet worthy of a better cause, as is always the case in its director's career". Norman Stone described it as a "brilliant, but quite misleading, film".

Box office

The film was made for $2.3 million and grossed over $35 million worldwide. In 1978, the Turkish government unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the film from being screened in Israel.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

Released on 6 October 1978, by Casablanca Records, the soundtrack to ''Midnight Express'' was composed by Italian

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

- pioneer

. The score won the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. # " Chase" – Giorgio Moroder (8:24) # "Love's Theme" – Giorgio Moroder (5:33) # " (Theme from) Midnight Express (Instrumental)" – Giorgio Moroder (4:39) # "Istanbul Blues" (Vocal) – David Castle (3:17) # "The Wheel" – Giorgio Moroder (2:24) # "Istanbul Opening" – Giorgio Moroder (4:43) # "Cacaphoney" – Giorgio Moroder (2:58) # "(Theme from) Midnight Express" (Vocal) – Chris Bennett (4:47)

Charts

Legacy

The quote "Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?", in the American comedy film ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...

'' (1980), is a reference to ''Midnight Express''. Susan's prison visit was spoofed in the 1996 film '' The Cable Guy'', where Jim Carrey opens his shirt, presses his naked breast against the glass, and cries, "Oh, Billy!" An amateur interview with Billy Hayes appeared on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, recorded during the 1999

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. He describes his experiences and expresses his disappointment with the film adaptation. In an article for the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', Hayes is reported as saying that the film "depicts all Turks as monsters". Giorgio Moroder's work "The Chase" is often used as bumper music on the American late-night radio talk show radio program '' Coast to Coast AM''. In pro wrestling, several tag teams were called The Midnight Express. Original member

Dennis Condrey Dennis Condrey (born February 1, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association, Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling ...

said the name reflected how they dressed in black, drove black cars and partied past midnight. The most popular iteration, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, used the film's theme, "Chase", as their entrance music. When he visited Turkey in 2004, screenwriter Oliver Stone - who won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for writing the screenplay for ''Midnight Express'' - apologized for the portrayal of the Turkish people in the film. He "eventually apologized for tampering with the truth".Walsh, Caspar
The 10 best prison films
. The Observer. 30 May 2010 "Theme from Midnight Express" is sampled on

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

's "Phantom of the Synths", which is prominently used on " Gazzillion Ear", produced by J Dilla and performed by MF Doom, released in 2005 and 2009 respectively. Hayes, Stone, and Alan Parker were invited to attend a special screening of ''Midnight Express'', with prisoners in the garden of an L-type prison in Döşemealtı, Turkey, as part of the 47th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in October 2010. Dialogue from ''Midnight Express'' was sampled in the song "Sanctified" on the original version of '' Pretty Hate Machine'', the debut album from

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

; the sample was removed from the 2010 remaster, for copyright reasons. In 2016, Parker returned to Malta as a special guest during the second edition of the Valletta Film Festival to attend a screening of the film on 4 June at Fort St Elmo, where many of the prison scenes were filmed.

References

External links

* * *
Script of movie by Oliver Stone (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight Express (Film) 1970s biographical films 1978 crime drama films 1978 independent films 1978 LGBTQ-related films 1970s prison drama films Films set in 1970 Films set in 1975 American biographical films American films about cannabis American independent films American prison drama films American LGBTQ-related films British biographical films British films about cannabis British independent films British prison drama films British LGBTQ-related films Best Drama Picture Golden Globe winners Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance Biographical films about drug traffickers Cannabis in Turkey Columbia Pictures films Drama films based on actual events Films scored by Giorgio Moroder Films based on autobiographies Films directed by Alan Parker Films produced by David Puttnam Films set in Greece Films set in Istanbul Films set in prison Films set in Turkey Films shot in Malta Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award Films whose director won the Best Direction BAFTA Award Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award Films about prison escapes Films with screenplays by Oliver Stone Films about torture Works about cannabis trafficking American neo-noir films Biographical films about writers 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1970s British films Films produced by Alan Marshall (producer) LGBTQ-related crime drama films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films Films set in the 1970s Films set in 1972 Films set in 1974 English-language biographical films Film censorship in Turkey Crime drama films based on actual events