Midnight Express (1978)

Regisseur:

Alan Parker

Drehbuchautoren:

Billy Hayes (book) and
William Hoffer (book) ...

Premierendatum:

6. Oktober 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Krimi | Drama | Thriller

Werbezeile:

A story of triumph.

Plot:

Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. Inspired from and dramatized upon a true event.

Plot Keywords:

Blind Eye | Prison Haircut | Rampage | Airport | Pet Cat

Filmpreise:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 12 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

When you're busted for drugs over there!

Besetzung

Brad Davis	...	Billy Hayes
Irene Miracle	...	Susan
Bo Hopkins	...	Tex
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Rifki
Paul L. Smith	...	Hamidou (as Paul Smith)
Randy Quaid	...	Jimmy Booth
Norbert Weisser	...	Erich
John Hurt	...	Max
Mike Kellin	...	Mr. Hayes
Franco Diogene	...	Yesil
Michael Ensign	...	Stanley Daniels
Gigi Ballista	...	Chief Judge
Kevork Malikyan	...	Prosecutor
Peter Jeffrey	...	Ahmet
Joe Zammit Cordina

Alternativ:

12 Uhr nachts (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]
12 Uhr nachts - Midnight Express (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]
Midnight Express (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

121 Min

Produktionsland:

UK | USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Maltese | Französisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Eastmancolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Singapore:M18 (cut) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | Brazil:18 | Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Netherlands:16 | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Drehorte:

Fort St.Elmo, Valletta, Malta

Firma:

Casablanca Filmworks

Dies und das:

The scene in which Brad Davis' character bites out the tongue of a fellow inmate upset the crew so much that they all walked off the set, leaving Alan Parker to shoot it with his two actors. For the scene, Davis carried a pig's tongue around in his mouth.

Pannen:

Faktische Fehler: Muslim prayer is depicted incorrectly. Muslim prayer has definite steps and rules, and there's always a leader to the prayer when more than two are praying.

Dialogzitate:

[first lines]
[Susan makes her way through a line at an airline checkpoint]
Susan: Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me.
[she reaches Billy in line]
Susan: Nervous?
Billy Hayes: No.
Susan: Geez, I hate flying.
Billy Hayes: It's something I ate. I think I've been poisoned.
Susan: Or you're just excited about getting home.
Billy Hayes: No, I think it's the baklavas.
[...]

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in The Cable Guy (1996)

Soundtrack:

Istanbul Blues

When you're busted for drugs over there!

While this film is entertaining to watch and has its level of suspense at various points it is not a truly `true story' much of it according to the real Billy Hayes never happened and his eventual escape is very different from what is depicted in this motion picture. It also tends to demonize the nation of Turkey and presents a distorted view of its people. Is it possible to have sympathy for the main character? He was fully aware of what he was doing and knew the consequences should he be caught so sympathy is on an individual basis. You may have sympathy or may not.

A number of years ago a public service commercial narrated by actor Hal Holbrook frequently ran on Television, which told of Americans being held in foreign prisons. He spoke of one American held in a Turkish prison. Was it Billy Hayes? The commercial ends with the line `When you're busted for drugs over there you're in for the hassle of your life' That's the message this film was intended to send out irregardless if the events in it were true or fictionalized for dramatic purposes. As always purchase or rent a copy to see the uncut unedited version.