Midnight Express

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A made-for-television documentary about the film, I'm Healthy, I'm Alive, and I'm Free (alternative title: The Making of Midnight Express), was released on January 1, 1977. It is seven minutes long, and features commentary from the cast and crew on how they worked together during production, and the effort it took from beginning to completion. It also includes footage from the creation of the film, and Hayes's emotional first visit to the prison set. [7] Differences from the book [ edit ] He was young and apparently headstrong and I so felt for his parents. I have made mistakes in my life so I do not make judgement on him(like some other reviewers) By now, the story is well known. In 1970, Hayes was arrested for attempting to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the Turkey. As a result, he was sentenced to four years imprisonment that later turned into a thirty year sentence due to the heated Turkish political climate. During his stay, he meets several inmates with whom he holds very close friendships, and their passages read like tender exchanges with people the reader can care for.

This true story about bravado and courage of a 15 year old girl, should be a read aloud in every household! Written in simple narrative, the story is easy to understand for young readers. This is a great story to talk about character development and teach about personality traits. It also makes a great conversation starter for teaching children about all the other people who build their careers around saving lives. Midnight Express' team to watch film with Turkish prisoners". Hürriyet Daily News. 2010-05-20. Archived from the original on 2021-05-05 . Retrieved 2010-07-31. Jimmy wants Billy to join an escape attempt through the prison's subterranean tunnels. Billy, due to be released soon, declines. Jimmy goes alone and is caught, then brutally beaten. Fifty-three days before his release, Billy learns the Turkish High Court in Ankara has overturned his sentence after an appeal by the prosecution. The prosecutor who originally wanted Billy convicted of smuggling rather than the lesser charge of possession finally had his way. Billy has been resentenced to serve 30 years.El libro es efectivo en trasmitir la desesperación de su protagonista por sobrevivir, por atravesar las paredes entre las que se encuentra recluido, por volver a su tierra, a lo que considera la vida. En su agonizante recorrido contemplamos los altibajos del alma humana y los golpes a la voluntad como inevitable consecuencia de un sistema judicial corrupto y un coexistir diario con la violencia, la desesperanza y la crudeza. Expreso de medianoche nos narra la historia de William, "Billy", el mismo escritor, quién es condenado a 30 años en una prisión de Turquía. But will she be able to get there in time? And how will she be able to navigate the thundering storm and pouring rain to get to the station? Kate must fight wind, rain and darkness and make her way over another bridge to get to the station. Over the next several months, Billy slowly adjusts to prison life. Jimmy gets stabbed in the behind for treating a Turkish prisoner badly during a volleyball game. Another time later, Billy and others witness the prison warden beat four of the young boys on their soles of their feet, believing them to have raped a new young inmate, with the warden's two pudgy sons looking on and him warning them about what happens if they ever break the law.

So this one of those books I am surprised I haven't read before now. Fairly well known, the plug on the cover says 'A harrowing true story in the great Papillion tradition', which it really is. Siskel, Gene (October 30, 1978). "Book-to-screen trip bumpy for 'Express '". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 2. So how horrific was it? Was he beaten? What kind of penury and squalor did he encounter? Was the punishment fitting to the crime?In June of 1972, Billy meets with his lawyer Yesil again with Yesil assuring him of convincing Turkish officials to lose his records before the high court in Ankara can review his case for the right amount of money. Billy is bored and uninterested at Yesil's visit, feeling it's all empty promises. Billy θα βρεθεί πίσω από τα κάγκελα της φυλακής θα ανακαλύψει ότι δεν είναι καθόλου εύκολο να καταφέρει να επιβιώσει μέσα σε ένα περιβάλλον που θυμίζει εποχές Μεσαίωνα και ότι θα πρέπει να σκληρύνει τον εαυτό του για να μπορέσει να βγει αλώβητος και σωματικά αλλά και ψυχολογικά από αυτή την κατάσταση. Γιατί ενώ όλοι του λένε ότι ίσως εκτίσει γύρω στους 20 μήνες ποινή ο ίδιος αρχίζει να συνειδητοποιεί εκείνα τα «ψιλά γράμματα» που κανένας δεν συνηθίζει να διαβάζει και ότι τα πράγματα θα είναι πολύ δύσκολα για εκείνον παρόλο που έχει ξεκινήσει άμεσα ένας ανελέητος αγώνας για την απελευθέρωση του. Και τελικά, όσο περνάει ο καιρός, ο Hayes καταλήγει ότι ο μόνος τρόπος για να αναπνεύσει και πάλι τον αέρα της ελευθερίας είναι να δραπετεύσει. Κάτι που φαντάζει εντελώς αδύνατο να γίνει από τις Τουρκικές φυλακές αν δεν καταλήξει στο νεκροτομείο. In October 1975, Billy has now been reduced to a catatonic and unkempt shadow of his former self in the prison's ward for the insane where he wanders in a daze among the other disturbed and catatonic prisoners, many of which look mentally incapacitated. His activities seem to consist solely of walking in a circle around a pillar with other prisoners. Max is running from guards for an unknown infraction and is grabbed by Hamidou and thrown across the place and severely injured. One day a prisoner, named Ahmet, a convicted child rapist and college-educated philosopher tries to talk to him about "bad machines" to no avail. Hayes was no innocent....he makes no bones about that. Did he deserve to serve time? I think so. Did he deserve life or 30 years for his crime (even if he had done it repeatedly)....no. After he escaped he made something of himself, so I'd say he most certainly did learn his lesson and became a better person for it. Midnight Express is a 1978 Turkish-American prison thriller drama film directed by Alan Parker and adapted by Oliver Stone from Billy Hayes's 1977 memoir of the same name. The film centers on Hayes (played by Brad Davis), a young American student, who is sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of the country. The film's title is prison slang for his escape attempt. The cast also features Irene Miracle, John Hurt, Bo Hopkins, Paul L. Smith and Randy Quaid.

In June of 1974, Billy's friend, Erich, is granted transfer to prison in his home country, more than likely leaving there after a short term because of Sweden's lenient laws, and leaves the prison after serving around eight years. Billy farewells with him and marks down his prison time to 53 days. I read Midnight Express years ago and I was quite taken by the graphic descriptions of his awful imprisonment and the terrible conditions existing in Turkey at that time for convicts. There are many tv shows, usually about South American or Asian countries prisons which are just as harsh as the ones in this book. It would be interesting to see statistics about the rate of recidivism from prisons with such grim conditions compared with those of the rather hard, tough ones of the US and also with the much easier ones of Europe and especially the Nordic countries. The movie differs from Hayes' account in his book. Among the differences is a scene in which Hayes kills the prison guard Hamid "the bear," the main antagonist of the story. In fact, the prison guard was killed in 1973 by a recently released prisoner, whose family Hamid insulted while beating the prisoner, years before Hayes' actual escape. Susan's prison visit was spoofed in the 1996 film The Cable Guy, where Jim Carrey opens his shirt, presses his naked breast against the glass, and cries, 'Oh, Billy!'Midnight Express (1978)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021 . Retrieved 20 September 2023. A few weeks later, Billy's father (Mike Kellin) arrives and embraces him, forgiving his mistake and introduces him to Stanley Daniels (Michael Ensign) of the American Consulate and his requested lawyer Yesil to defend him. Yesil is a fat, shifty, greasy-haired, chain-smoking, ever-smiling man with gold teeth that promises Billy to get him the right court and judge and not to worry. Their goal is to get bail for Billy and a fake passport to get him across to Greece to leave. a b Smith, Helena (16 December 2004). "Stone sorry for Midnight Express". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013 . Retrieved 14 January 2012. There is a fleeting reference to the popular restaurant The Pudding Shop, in the bazaar. It is actually on Divan Yolu, the main avenue through historic Old Istanbul. Hayes θα αποκαλύψει γύρω στα 2 κιλά μαριχουάνα και θα είναι η αιτία που θα καταλήξει στη φυλακή. Αυτό που δεν γνωρίζει είναι ότι όχι μόνο το εμπόριο αλλά και η κατοχή ναρκωτικών, όπως η μαριχουάνα, είναι ένα σοβαρό έγκλημα για τις Τουρκικές Αρχές και θα νιώσει στο πετσί του ακριβώς πως λειτουργεί η Τουρκική Δικαιοσύνη. Κάτι που πιστέψτε με δεν έχει αλλάξει και πολύ μετά από περίπου 50 χρόνια.

The book is a much more accurate and much more compelling story of the arrest, imprisonment and escape of Billy Hayes in Turkey and imprisoned for smuggling than the 1978 movie. Of course the book is in Hayes' own words and not the twisted fantasies of overzealous filmmakers so that is definitely a big plus.Theme from Midnight Express" is sampled on J Dilla's "Phantom of the Synths", which is prominently used on " Gazzillion Ear", produced by J Dilla and performed by MF Doom, released in 2005 and 2009 respectively. [40] [41] I have read it; it is not bad, but Billy Hayes admitted that the book was slightly exaggerated and dramatized. In the book he alleged that when he was first apprehended, he was beaten. He did not allege other beatings. When the movie was made, it included not only brutal treatment — there is a particularly savage scene in the movie when the young American bites the lip of a Turkish prison official who was abusing him. I don’t think any of those incidents ever occurred. Hayes wrote a book on his experiences, Midnight Express, which was later adapted into the 1978 film of the same name starring Brad Davis as Hayes. The film was directed by Alan Parker, with a screenplay by Oliver Stone. The movie differs from Hayes' account in his book. Among the differences is a scene invented by Stone in which Hayes kills the prison guard Hamidou 'the Bear' (portrayed by Paul L. Smith), the main antagonist of the story. In fact, the prison guard was killed in 1973 by another person entirely, a recently released prisoner, whose family Hamidou had insulted while beating the prisoner; this took place years before Hayes' actual escape. Hayes καθώς περνούν οι ώρες, οι μέρες και τα χρόνια που περνά στη φυλακή αρχίζουμε και εμείς να ωριμάζουμε μαζί του και να αναγνωρίζουμε τον αγώνα που δίνει ο ίδιος με τον εαυτό του αλλά και με όσους τον περιβάλλουν προκειμένου να καταφέρει να ξεφύγει από ένα μέρος που κυριολεκτικά τον πλακώνει και του δημιουργεί ένα αίσθημα ασφυξίας. Ο εγκλεισμός του στις Τουρκικές φυλακές του δίνει το χρόνο να κάτσει να σκεφτεί και να αναλογιστεί τι έκανε μέχρι τώρα στη ζωή του, στον εαυτό του αλλά και στους δικούς του ανθρώπους και να αναθεωρήσει πολλά από όσα θεωρούσε δεδομένα στην μέχρι τώρα πορεία του. Η επιθυμία του να βρεθεί και πάλι στο ασφαλές περιβάλλον της οικογένειας του και περιτριγυρισμένος από οικεία πρόσωπα θα τον κάνει να θέσει νέους στόχους για το μέλλον με πρώτο και κύριο την απόδραση του παρόλο που όλοι του λένε να κάνει υπομονή και να εκτίσει την ποινή του. In more recent times, Billy has travelled round the world with a one man show Riding the Midnight Express, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013. He has written two sequels to his original book both published in 2013: Midnight Return (Escaping Midnight Express) and The Midnight Express Letters – from a Turkish Prison, 1970 – 1975, a collection of letters written to his friends and family from prison. In the same year, the story was made in to a ballet, which was the subject of much speculation when the lead dancer, Sergei Polunin, left the show one week before opening. In 2016, the story was the subject of a documentary, Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey.