Midnight Express

Composite Score: 87.33

Starring: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, John Hurt, Mike Kellin, Franco Diogene, and Michael Ensign

Director: Alan Parker

Writer: Oliver Stone

Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

Box Office: $35.00 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                Midnight Express is the film adaptation of Billy Hayes’s memoir of the same name about his imprisonment and subsequent escape from prison in Turkey in the early 1970s. The film stars Brad Davis as Billy, joined by Irene Miracle as his girlfriend Susan, Randy Quaid, John Hurt, and Norbert Weisser as his fellow inmates Jimmy Both, Max, and Erich, and Mike Kellin as Billy’s father. It follows Billy from his detainment at the airport while he tries to exit Turkey with two kilograms of hashish taped under his clothes to his imprisonment at Sagmalcilar Prison to his attempts to appeal and reduce his sentence with the help of the American consulate to his escape attempts with fellow prisoners to his stint in the wing for mentally unwell to his eventual escape from prison (“catching the midnight express,” as Max puts it). It received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Hurt, and wins for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. It’s a brutal film that seeks to present an argument in favor of reducing harm against inmates in any prison but succeeds more at getting the audience to simply dislike the Turkish (at least as they were in the 1970s). The visuals are fantastic, and cinematographer Michael Seresin (War for the Planet of the Apes) delivers a masterclass in allowing the images on the screen to create drama. Hurt and Randy Quaid are the high points on the acting side of things, each playing a different version of the desperate and doomed inmate at a very high level. The film’s brutality borders on the exploitative at points, but it feels genuine thanks in large part to Parker’s direction, Seresin’s camera work, and the score that plays under it all. Unfortunately, all the excellence of the film is held back by its story and themes. It asks us to root for someone who has committed a crime to escape the punishment for that crime – something that is difficult to do when there is no question in the audience’s mind as to his guilt. Yes, we do grow to hate his captors and those who keep them in power, but that doesn’t mean that we’re suddenly forgiving Hayes for his crimes. It seeks to condemn the violence being done while at the same time seemingly celebrating the violence committed by the victims of violence. It’s almost like it doesn’t quite realize what it’s doing, especially when you also take into account that it does not portray a single Turkish character in a positive light. It’s problematic at almost every thematic level, but the technical excellence and even the strong supporting performances make it a film that you can’t fully look away from once you turn it on. Should it be counted as one of the greats? Maybe, but it has been, and after watching it, I can understand why it made it here, even if I don’t love much about what it has to say. Currently, this film is available to rent on most streaming platforms if you’d like to check it out for yourself.