The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Parker at the 51st Academy Awards in 1979, and won Best Adapted Screenplay for Stone and Best Original Score for Moroder. It also won six Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and BAFTA Awards for Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (for Hurt). In 2016, Parker returned to Malta as a special guest during the second edition of the Valletta Film Festival to attend a screening of the film on 4 June at Fort St Elmo, where many of the prison scenes were filmed. [6] See also [ edit ] That being said apparently the movie was not true to the real story. They changed some things and added others. a b "Midnight Express (1978)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021 . Retrieved January 27, 2012.

Billy Hayes’ chronicle of his horrific five years in a Turkish prison doesn’t read like tense existentialist struggle against impossible odds, but rather like a Hallmark movie of the week. Finished this book yesterday and I can say I really liked it. I liked his honesty most of all. Most men especially in that era would not have written how they made love with another man but he did and made it sound soft and beautiful. Rifki finds their secret in the kitchen the next morning after their unsuccessful escape attempt and immediately tells Hamidou. Hamidou suspects Jimmy of being responsible after what happened the first time and drags him off for punishment again, and is never seen from then on.In the movie, Hayes is in Turkey with his girlfriend when he is arrested. But in real life, he was traveling alone. 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 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.

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. Admittedly there are many better written books on Turkey to peruse, including Istanbul: The Imperial City, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul and many others besides, but Billy Hayes story is famous and compelling because of the sheer fascinating horror afforded by life in a foreign jail. It's a weird form of voyeurism after the fact (he gets out - no this is not a spoiler). Also the production of an award winning Hollywood movie, generated from Billy's transcontinental woes and bookish rememberings also helps lodge certain events in the public cinema-going psyche.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. Si bien yo me esperaba "más acción", por así decirle, creo que sucede todo muy rápido al final, pero eso no quiere decir que no me gustó.

On July 6th, 1881, a terrible storm raged and hit the Des Moines River valley. Rain poured all day long. Kate and her family watched as the river water kept rising in the Honey Creek. And soon enough the river flooded the banks and the yard. Billy Hayes. Στους τίτλους τέλους παρατήρησα ότι πρόκειται για την αληθινή ιστορία του Hayes και η ταινία βασίστηκε στο αυτοβιογραφικό βιβλίο του το οποίο για κάποιο λόγο δεν είχα διαβάσει μέχρι σήμερα 25 περίπου χρονιά αφού είδα την ταινία. Nieratko, Chris (February 19, 2009). "Airplane! is the Greatest Movie of All Time". Vice Magazine. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019 . Retrieved February 25, 2019. In fact, my escape, as portrayed in the film, is also complete fiction. I didn’t kill a guard and prance out of prison. I escaped from Imrali Island prison by rowboat in a storm, traveled across half of Turkey and swam the Maritza River to freedom in Greece. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.282. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.Arnold, Gary (October 28, 1978). "Sensationalistic Trip on The 'Midnight Express '". The Washington Post. B4. 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] It really is a powerful story and another important difference....the real Billy takes responsibility for what he did and recognizes what he did was wrong....in sharp contrast to the Billy in the movie who is little more than a whiner who never really owns up to what he did or the fact that he broke the law. I sympathize with the real man much more than the one portrayed by Brad Davis. Siamo ai livelli di Papillon; anche questo è una storia vera: William Hayes, uno studente americano, cercò di contrabbandare hashish fuori dalla Turchia nel 1970. Condannato a quattro anni e 2 mesi prima e all'ergastolo poi, nel durissimo carcere di Sagmacilar, riuscì a scappare nel 1975 in Grecia per poi fare ritorno a casa. Kate knew that the engine and the railroad men had fallen into the raging river. She knew that she simply had to go and get help to save the men. Not just that, now that the bridge had gone under, she must find a way to stop the Midnight Express carrying large number of passengers from passing the Moingona station.

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. Flinn, John (9 January 2004). "The real Billy Hayes regrets 'Midnight Express' cast all Turks in a bad light". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012 . Retrieved 14 January 2012. At another courtroom hearing, a distraught Billy rails against the three judges, the prosecutor, his own lawyer, the Turkish legal system, and the nation of Turkey itself. Speaking through a translator, with a mixture of anger and pity in his voice, the chief judge tells Billy that his hands are tied by Ankara and has no choice but to give him a life sentence. Billy is given a minimum sentence of 30 years, with time already served, for smuggling of hashish. So how horrific was it? Was he beaten? What kind of penury and squalor did he encounter? Was the punishment fitting to the crime?Quest'estate ero in Svizzera, gironzolavo tra le bancarelle di Lugano e da lontano ho visto la copertina di questo libro, non sapevo neanche che prima del film ci fu il libro, potevo immaginarlo certamente, ma ci sono delle cose che dai per scontato e basta. Ammetto che ho tenuto da parte questo libro per un po' perchè avevo una paura folle che mi offuscasse uno dei miei film preferiti. Ma come ormai è regola poteva essere il libro inferiore al film? Certo che no, perchè se il film è maraviglioso, il libro è stupendo e ci sono voluti solo due giorni per leggerlo. In the end, there are a few conventional, or at least retrospectively familiar aspects found along the overlong path that the film blandly, unevenly and often unsubtly treks, and is made compelling enough by decent scoring, outstanding cinematography, extensive scripting, audacious direction, and strong acting, - especially by Brad Davis - to make Alan Parker's "Midnight Express" a generally engrossing and ultimately rewarding dramatization of the horrors Billy Hayes faced in a problematic prison system. A fast paced one sitting read, Midnight Express is definitely not for the faint hearted. Whether it be the torments that are a way of life at Sagmalcilar, or the jaw dropping intransigence of the Turkish legal system, where the word “justice” transcends from being a noble concept to a n impotent misnomer, to the insane escape itself attempted by Hayes, the book is gasp inducing. Beads of sweat automatically form on the brows of the reader as the suspense and anticipation leaves her absolutely poleaxed and stupefied. This movie is based loosely on Billy Hayes' book Midnight Express about his five year experience in the Turkish prison system. The movie was exaggerated for dramatic effect.