Midnight Express

Hmmm. I’m not sure time has been so kind to this, and as we look on it now it comes across as a rather condescending and stereotypical judgement of a Turkish penal system that dared to deal harshly with a drug smuggler. That character “Billy” (Brad Davis) doesn’t make it through immigration as he tries to leave Istanbul with loads of hashish strapped to his torso whilst sweating nervously. Initially, he is released on bail on the basis that he helps the authorities to trace his suppliers, but he decides to pull a fast one and that just ends up with him on the wrong end of a four year prison sentence. Now there’s no denying that life in the prison is brutal and the chief guard and slightly sexually ambiguous “Hamidou” (Paul L. Smith) has clearly got it in for the attractive young American and is aided and abetted by the odious prison Quisling “Rifki” (Paolo Bonacelli) who doesn’t much care for “Billy” either. Luckily, he does manage to make a few friends, not least the ailing Briton “Max” (John Hurt) and they manage to keep him on the straight and narrow for a while, but as some stomach-churning news reaches the young man on the verge of his release, it becomes clear that if he is to get out he is going to have to resort to more drastic action. What bothered me about this whole thing is that the entire premise seemed to be squarely attempting to illicit sympathy from us for this young man, even though he is undoubtedly guilty of his crime, by creating a culture amongst the Turks of obesity, brutishness, arbitrary violence and even a degree of depravity. At no point does Alan Parker make any effort to remind us that this real-life idiot was imprisoned because of his own actions - rather arrogant and selfish ones at that, too - and that perhaps the court was indeed trying to make an example of him to deter other likeminded individuals whose contempt for Turkey was just as culpable as his. Might we in the West not react the same if someone was caught here, and have we never seen films depicting atrocities in our own prisons? I don’t like being manoeuvred into a position where I’m encouraged to sympathise for a character just because of excess and exaggeration provided for creative licence. Davis, it also has to be said, looks easy enough on the eye but his acting prowess is ropey and inconsistent throughout. Indeed it’s really only Hurt and Bonacelli who can lay claim to any dramatic plaudits as this dark and gritty drama leads us by the nose. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime - even if you are an American!