Midnight Express (1978)

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Midnight Express (1978)

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A powerful Drama that speaks of man's ability to endure even the most physically agonizing and emotionally draining experiences, Midnight Express tells the true tale of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), an American incarcerated in a harsh, unforgiving prison in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the best films of 1978 and the recipient of several Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and two wins, Midnight Express represents a level of fine filmmaking rarely seen anymore in an era of special effects, generic scripts, and crowd-pleasing humor that more often than not denigrate rather than elevate a script, a performance, an entire film. A film that allows its story to speak for itself and remain the central focus of the entire two-hour experience, Midnight Express is both supported and defined by an intensely frightening atmosphere, wonderful characterization, a dazzlingly simple yet thoughtful and thought-provoking script, and an Oscar-winning score courtesy of Giorgio Moroder (Scarface).

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Midnight Express (1978)

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American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) fails in his attempt to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. Caught moments before boarding his plane on October 6, 1970, the illegal substance is found strapped to his body and he is held in the country while his girlfriend, Susan (Irene Miracle), returns to the United States. Billy agrees to cooperate by identifying the man who sold him the drugs, but an escape attempt hinders rather than helps his chances of leaving the country a free man. Billy is ultimately sentenced to a term of four years and two months in a cold, gray, dusty, decaying prison, his cell containing only a filthy cot and pillow. Billy almost immediately learns of the harsh realities of the prison, earning himself a severe beating for borrowing a blanket from a nearby cell. As the days go by, Billy meets several other foreigners – Jimmy (Randy Quaid), Erich (Norbert Weisser), and Max (John Hurt) – and learns that the only way he'll likely ever see the outside of the prison is through the "midnight express," or escape. As his release date approaches, Billy learns that he is to be made an example and his sentence is extended an additional 30 years. Desperate to escape the living hell that now defines his life, Billy must find a way to ride the express before prison life kills him, one way or the other.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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Defined by a collection of core storytelling principles that serve only to enhance the story rather than rework it into something easier, more palatable, more "audience friendly," Midnight Express never backs off from its agonizing excursion deep into the human psyche as Billy falls deeper into a state of physical and emotional decay. As the prison walls figuratively close in around him, Billy's mind seems to practically shrink as a result of the despair wrought by experiences too difficult to bear. His sentence unjustly extended and his friends suffering terrible fates, Billy sinks into a state of anguish marked by a loss of self-control, hope, and sanity. Brad Davis' performance recalls some of the better efforts through the history of film. The actor covers a broad spectrum of emotion, captures the hardships of the physical and mental degradation brought on by the realities of prison life and the loss of many basic freedoms and comforts, and immerses himself in the role and the poignancy of the story. An impassioned performance as evidenced at several key junctures throughout, not the least of which is a moving, blunt, and hard-hitting plea with a Turkish judge before being re-sentenced to an additional 30 years in prison, Davis delivers an all-around superb effort that may not be remembered as one of cinema's all-time classic performances but is certainly one that is terrific in every regard.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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A no-frills story told passionately, coherently, and with basic but highly effective technical know-how, Midnight Express succeeds as a work of art because of its ability to lure audiences into its world not through pandering clichés but instead through a wonderful simplicity that defines the story, its characters, and the cinematic techniques employed to bring them to life. Alan Parker's direction in Midnight Express creates an atmosphere characterized by tension, danger, and mystery as the overtones that define the film's basic structure, but never allowing those superficialities to overburden or otherwise mask the emotional undercurrent that truly makes the picture. Midnight Express is a cerebral tale rather than a visual one, the camera working not to tell the story but merely capture it, allowing audiences to feel a member of the prison population and experience the array of physical and emotional distress almost firsthand. Also brilliantly but not all intrusively adding to the experience – both on the surface and also embracing the undercurrents that run in conjunction with the film – is Giorgio Moroder's period-influenced but nevertheless timeless score that always seems to tell the story to the same degree of effectiveness as the direction, writing, or acting.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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Despite its many artistic merits, Midnight Express has become one of the more controversial films in Hollywood history for its over-dramatization of the true circumstances behind Billy's prison stay in Turkey. Oliver Stone's (JFK) screenplay has garnered plenty of condemnation for its broad strokes that differentiate good and evil strictly through clearly-defined lines, but it also earned the oft-criticized Director an Oscar win for its riveting, bold, natural, and superficially simple yet emotionally complex approach to the material. Director Alan Parker addresses the issue of "truth" versus "fiction" in his memoir Anatomy of a Film: The Making of Midnight Express (included as the printed text accompanying 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 on Stone's contributions to the project, its historical accuracy, and further dramatization for moviegoing audiences: "Oliver Stone wrote his screenplay and undoubtedly moved further away from the original 'truth,' adding his own unique slant to the proceedings." Midnight Express was, is, and will continue to be, an oft-analyzed film for both its artistry and its many controversial under- and overtones, including the painting of a drug smuggler as a sympathetic character. On artistic merit alone, however, Midnight Express remains one of the finer films of the past several decades, a testament to superb moviemaking in its purest form and a powerful story on the human condition.

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Midnight Express Blu-ray, Video Quality
Midnight Express arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The Blu-ray delivers a solid picture quality that never jumps off the screen with crystal-clear images and vibrant colors, but it is representative of and faithful to its source. A few artifacts are visible here and there, but such anomalies are the exception to the rule. The print is generally blemish-free, and it contains a moderately high amount of film grain that offers to the picture a film-like appearance. Midnight Express is a drab, lifeless movie, reflective of the setting and tone of the drama. Colors are drab and dim, details can appear a bit hazy, and neither sharpness nor depth are all that spectacular. Fine details are often 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, for instance a sequence in chapter 11. While Midnight Express doesn't look like The International, it does look as intended and this Blu-ray edition offers a fine transfer in context.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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Midnight Express Blu-ray, Audio Quality
This Blu-ray release of 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 middle with little information sent to the adjoining speakers. Ambient sound effects, for example the hustle and bustle of the Turkish airport at the beginning of the film, features all of the environmental effects up front and playing mostly through the center speaker. Music often plays with little in the way of volume at reference levels, a chase scene in chapter 3 playing as a rather cut-and-dry experience that delivers the sound but doesn't do all that much with it. Dialogue is reproduced efficiently throughout. Like the picture quality, Midnight Express' lossless soundtrack impresses in context. It doesn't create a phony atmosphere or otherwise add to the original track. It's mostly a clearer, more precise rendition of the mono track, just the way it should be.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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Midnight Express Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras
Midnight Express rolls onto Blu-ray with a fine selection of bonus materials, headlined by a commentary track with Director Alan Parker. A solid track that's delivered rather dryly, Parker speaks on the expected range of topics, including the origins of the project and his involvement, the Academy-Award winning score (the first electronic score to win the Oscar), shooting techniques and locations, the film's themes and the importance of story rather than specific location, the actors, changes in the script and how the ending differs from the true story, addressing some of the criticism laid on the film, and plenty more. Parker delivers a fine commentary track that's worthy of the quality of 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 assemblage of the cast and crew, the process of screening the completed film and a particularly humorous gaffe, the film's legacy, and more.

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 an untested actor into the leading role; the shooting locations; the work of the entire crew; and the challenges of the shoot and the story. The Finished Film (1080i, 23:48) once again features Director Parker, Actor Hurt, Producers Marshall and Guber, and Writer Stone. In this piece, they 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. This disc also includes a photo gallery (1080i, 12:40), 1080p trailers for The Da Vinci Code, A River Runs Through It, Casino Royale, Damages: Season One, Obsessed, and Not Easily Broken, and BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) functionality. The digibook contains the aforementioned essay, Anatomy of a Film: The Making of Midnight Express, with full color photographs.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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Midnight Express Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
Superbly crafted and emotionally involving, Midnight Express often defeats the moral quagmire as presented in the film and the controversial aspects of its script through sheer moviemaking brilliance. Managing to turn a drug-smuggling character into a sympathetic figure due to his disdainful treatment in a hellish foreign prison and taking liberties with a true story for dramatic and artistic license (a common practice among historically-based motion pictures though perhaps not with such a gritty look, feel, and effect as portrayed here), Midnight Express certainly deserves the accolades bestowed upon it by the Academy, though the subject matter and controversial depiction thereof makes it a rather unique film in the annals of cinema. No matter one's take on this representation of Billy Hayes' story, there is no denying the artistic merits Midnight Express brings to the table, its superb technical achievements reason alone to watch. Sony's Blu-ray release of Midnight Express befits the film. Delivering a true-to-the-source 1080p transfer, a lossless soundtrack that improves upon, but doesn't redefine, the original mix, and plenty of bonus materials, this "digibook" release comes highly recommended.

From Bluray.com

..:: Italian Synopsis ::..

Il 6 ottobre 1970, dopo un periodo di vacanza ad Istanbul, un cittadino americano di nome Billy Hayes viene arrestato dalla polizia turca all'aeroporto a causa dell'alto livello di allerta dovuto alla paura di attentati terroristici. Dopo essere stato trovato in possesso di diversi pacchetti di hashish, viene condannato a una pena relativamente indulgente di quattro anni e due mesi per possesso di droga.

Viene mandato alla prigione di Sagmalcilar dove conosce e diventa amico di altri prigionieri occidentali con i quali prepara un piano di evasione che fallisce. Nel 1974, dopo l'appello dell'accusa, che sperava di convertire la condanna per possesso in quella per contrabbando, la sentenza viene estesa a trent'anni, imposti dalla Corte Suprema turca di Ankara.

La sua permanenza diventa un incubo: si succedono violenze e torture fisiche e mentali, in una prigione dove corruzione, violenza e insania la fanno da padrone. Mostruosi secondini costringono i prigionieri a sottostare alle peggiori crudeltà. Alcuni lavorano come "informatori" per conto dell'amministrazione della prigione. In preda ad un momento di follia, Hayes uccide, staccandogli la lingua con un morso, uno degli informatori che ha denunciato il suo piano di fuga ed accusato ingiustamente uno dei suoi complici.

Nel 1975 dopo essere stato assegnato al centro di malattie mentali della prigione, Hayes riceve la visita della sua fidanzata, la quale lo ammonisce dell'impossibilità che egli possa uscire vivo di prigione e gli procura del denaro di nascosto. Hayes tenta nuovamente la fuga, questa volta tentando di corrompere il capo delle guardie ma finisce per ucciderlo mentre l'altro tenta di violentarlo. Impadronitosi della divisa da secondino, apparentemente senza essere notato, riesce ad uscire dalla porta principale. Dall'epilogo si apprende che nella notte del 4 ottobre 1975, Hayes riesce a superare il confine greco e ad arrivare a casa tre settimane dopo, ponendo fine ad un quinquennale calvario.

..:: Spanish Synopsis ::..

En 1970, Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), un joven estadounidense, es sorprendido en el aeropuerto de Estambul al tratar de abandonar el país con hachís adherido a su cuerpo. Para su desgracia, el Gobierno turco desea dar un castigo ejemplar a los traficantes de drogas y Billy es juzgado por posesión de drogas y condenado a cuatro años y dos meses, que deberá cumplir en una prisión de Estambul. Su padre (Mike Kellin) viaja a Turquía para gestionar su liberación, pero la embajada estadounidense nada puede hacer, ya que el presidente Nixon había tensado las relaciones con Turquía.

Comienza entonces una pesadilla para el joven, que deberá adaptarse al ambiente de miseria dantesca de la prisión. Queda junto a dos presos extranjeros, Max (John Hurt) y Jimmy (Randy Quaid), que también deben cumplir largas condenas. Un condenado turco, Rifki (Paolo Bonacelli) los provee y vigila, por encargo del jefe de la prisión, Hamidou (Paul L. Smith), un gendarme sádico y pervertido que abusa de los reclusos. Decide entonces el padre de Billy contratar a un abogado turco, Yesil (Franco Diogene), que deberá enfrentarse a la complicada burocracia legal turca. En 1974, las apelaciones del abogado fracasan, al recibir Billy una condena de 30 años, esta vez bajo el cargo de contrabando de drogas, condena emitida por la Corte Suprema de Ankara.

Billy ve su futuro destruido y comienza a caer en un estado de desequilibrio mental que lo lleva a agredir a Rifki, por lo que es trasladado a la sección siquiátrica de la prisión. La novia de Billy, Susan (Irene Miracle), lo visita en 1975 en la prisión y consigue entregarle dinero oculto en un álbum de fotos, para intentar la fuga. Pide hablar con el jefe Hamidou, le ofrece dinero para que lo lleve al hospital del penal, y este lo lleva a una habitación, lo golpea e intenta violarlo. Billy, en su desesperación, logra empujar al gendarme y este se clava la nuca en un colgador de la pared y muere. Acto seguido, Billy se viste con un uniforme de guardia e intenta la fuga y lo logra.

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Midnight Express (1978)

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