The iconic score from Giorgio Moroder still echoes the sound of an eternal moral battle between hope and desperateness, about standing against adversity, or dying slowly when the light of hope is weakening. And "Midnight Express" communicates these emotions through one of the greatest male performances ever, from Brad Davis, as Billy Hayes, a stranger in a hostile country.
And this is the point to be cleared first, for intellectual honesty's sake. Till now, the movie is held responsible for having paved the way to a whole misconception about Turkish prisons in general and Turks more particularly (ironically, this is how the movie lurched so fast into Pop-Culture). But I don't think we should blame the film for having depicted a population in such an extreme way for two reasons. First, it's against the system more than the people. Secondly, dramatization is a key element, had the movie been more politically correct, it would have probably been less impacting without gaining more accuracy. Dramatization is affection : like many men thought twice before having a mistress, after they watched "Fatal Attraction", I'm sure the movie was a lesson to drug smugglers.
And as ludicrous as it sounds, a sincere inaccuracy is better than a hypocritical tolerance. After all, aren't we all biased, too? And aren't the others? If you put the film into perspective, Turkey had a very bad reputation because of men like Billy Hayes, and he was chosen by destiny to take all the punishment, to set an example. Billy had to commit this mistake to realize that. And we put ourselves in his shoes, we follow Billy in the toilets where he desperately tries to hide his anxiety, we feel our heart beating as fast as his. Alan Parker's direction perfectly emphasizes the whole paranoid feeling, it's like we got so high everything became suspect. When the eyes of Billy betray him and the guards search him, we feel like carrying hashish too, then, when Billy raises his arms and the ring of guards point guns at him, we know the doors of a hellish journey have just been opened. The empathy between the viewer and Billy is so strong that from this point, both feelings are combined, including, the hate against the Turkish system.
I insist on the word 'system' because Billy is indeed the scapegoat of a system where corruption and legality flirt together in an obscene masquerade, like the funny but meaningful image of a judge staring at a girl's sexy legs in the press room while Billy's is pleading for his cause. It's a crooked system disguising Billy's punishment as a victory in the war against drug smuggling. Billy accepts the punishment after a heart-breaking leaving scene with his father; he's ready to wait for four long years. He befriends Jimmy (Randy Quaid) a hot-headed American who's got only one thing in head, escape and Max, the English (John Hurt), a smooth talking, pot-smoker and detached intellectual. During this time, as I said, we –as viewers- feel a strong attachment to Billy, we can't wait for him getting out of prison as we're embarked with him in the same hell. And we see Turkish people the way he does, yes, they are vile, and corrupted, but don't forget the movie sitting in the throne of IMDb's Top 250 doesn't feature the nicest warden and chief guard in the world either. Again, my point is to put things into perspective, Billy's hate is a reaction to the hostility aimed at him. Billy's considered as "Ayip", impure, from the start. We can't perceive the brutal Hamidou and the sneaky Rifki's with other eyes. This is the power of "Midnight Express", something I don't think any other prison movies achieved, making us feel exactly like the central character whose emotions are magnificently expressed through Moroder's unforgettable score, my favorite after "The Godfather".
"Midnight Express" is definitely one of these films where the score and the story are inseparable: the iconic chase theme is like the rhythm of our own heart pounding as we're running with Billy. Also take the scene with the Swedish prisoner, despite the disturbing intimacy, the music helped me to empathize, to wonder how I would have handled these four years without expressing some feelings. Beyond the music, "Midnight Express" is one of these great cinematic achievements where everything is so perfectly combined we don't watch the film, we feel it. The prison's ugliness exudes from a beautiful cinematography and the hostility of Billy's world is so masterfully directed, you can feel the dirt on the beds, and smell the sweat of other prisoners, not to mention the perfect acting that made the realism of the story even scarier.
The only element that seems to disturb is the script, but if the music is the heart of the film, the script is the soul. Yes, it's politically incorrect, yes after his sentence was extended to perpetuity, Billy delivered one of the most racist rants ever said, but this is not where the movie sinned: as I said, this is the movie's sincerity speaking. It's a gut wrenching speech, because this is not Billy talking, this is the desperation of someone who's got nothing to lose, who played the game and lost it. And more than that, this is Billy's turning point from which, he and Jimmy and Max will try to catch the Midnight Express, the metaphorical train leading to freedom, while they are already standing on a less imaginary stairway to hell, preparing Billy for one of the most chilling, and realistic descents into madness, ever portrayed in film. So sad, such an amazing actor and promising career had to leave us so soon.
"Midnight Express" transcends its setting, and sublimates any critical aspect into an intense story about the power of human spirit struggling in a hostile environment ... a misunderstood masterpiece, the greatest prison movie, and one of the best of the 70's.
And this is the point to be cleared first, for intellectual honesty's sake. Till now, the movie is held responsible for having paved the way to a whole misconception about Turkish prisons in general and Turks more particularly (ironically, this is how the movie lurched so fast into Pop-Culture). But I don't think we should blame the film for having depicted a population in such an extreme way for two reasons. First, it's against the system more than the people. Secondly, dramatization is a key element, had the movie been more politically correct, it would have probably been less impacting without gaining more accuracy. Dramatization is affection : like many men thought twice before having a mistress, after they watched "Fatal Attraction", I'm sure the movie was a lesson to drug smugglers.
And as ludicrous as it sounds, a sincere inaccuracy is better than a hypocritical tolerance. After all, aren't we all biased, too? And aren't the others? If you put the film into perspective, Turkey had a very bad reputation because of men like Billy Hayes, and he was chosen by destiny to take all the punishment, to set an example. Billy had to commit this mistake to realize that. And we put ourselves in his shoes, we follow Billy in the toilets where he desperately tries to hide his anxiety, we feel our heart beating as fast as his. Alan Parker's direction perfectly emphasizes the whole paranoid feeling, it's like we got so high everything became suspect. When the eyes of Billy betray him and the guards search him, we feel like carrying hashish too, then, when Billy raises his arms and the ring of guards point guns at him, we know the doors of a hellish journey have just been opened. The empathy between the viewer and Billy is so strong that from this point, both feelings are combined, including, the hate against the Turkish system.
I insist on the word 'system' because Billy is indeed the scapegoat of a system where corruption and legality flirt together in an obscene masquerade, like the funny but meaningful image of a judge staring at a girl's sexy legs in the press room while Billy's is pleading for his cause. It's a crooked system disguising Billy's punishment as a victory in the war against drug smuggling. Billy accepts the punishment after a heart-breaking leaving scene with his father; he's ready to wait for four long years. He befriends Jimmy (Randy Quaid) a hot-headed American who's got only one thing in head, escape and Max, the English (John Hurt), a smooth talking, pot-smoker and detached intellectual. During this time, as I said, we –as viewers- feel a strong attachment to Billy, we can't wait for him getting out of prison as we're embarked with him in the same hell. And we see Turkish people the way he does, yes, they are vile, and corrupted, but don't forget the movie sitting in the throne of IMDb's Top 250 doesn't feature the nicest warden and chief guard in the world either. Again, my point is to put things into perspective, Billy's hate is a reaction to the hostility aimed at him. Billy's considered as "Ayip", impure, from the start. We can't perceive the brutal Hamidou and the sneaky Rifki's with other eyes. This is the power of "Midnight Express", something I don't think any other prison movies achieved, making us feel exactly like the central character whose emotions are magnificently expressed through Moroder's unforgettable score, my favorite after "The Godfather".
"Midnight Express" is definitely one of these films where the score and the story are inseparable: the iconic chase theme is like the rhythm of our own heart pounding as we're running with Billy. Also take the scene with the Swedish prisoner, despite the disturbing intimacy, the music helped me to empathize, to wonder how I would have handled these four years without expressing some feelings. Beyond the music, "Midnight Express" is one of these great cinematic achievements where everything is so perfectly combined we don't watch the film, we feel it. The prison's ugliness exudes from a beautiful cinematography and the hostility of Billy's world is so masterfully directed, you can feel the dirt on the beds, and smell the sweat of other prisoners, not to mention the perfect acting that made the realism of the story even scarier.
The only element that seems to disturb is the script, but if the music is the heart of the film, the script is the soul. Yes, it's politically incorrect, yes after his sentence was extended to perpetuity, Billy delivered one of the most racist rants ever said, but this is not where the movie sinned: as I said, this is the movie's sincerity speaking. It's a gut wrenching speech, because this is not Billy talking, this is the desperation of someone who's got nothing to lose, who played the game and lost it. And more than that, this is Billy's turning point from which, he and Jimmy and Max will try to catch the Midnight Express, the metaphorical train leading to freedom, while they are already standing on a less imaginary stairway to hell, preparing Billy for one of the most chilling, and realistic descents into madness, ever portrayed in film. So sad, such an amazing actor and promising career had to leave us so soon.
"Midnight Express" transcends its setting, and sublimates any critical aspect into an intense story about the power of human spirit struggling in a hostile environment ... a misunderstood masterpiece, the greatest prison movie, and one of the best of the 70's.