Review of Midnight Express (1978) by Stefan N — 27 Mar 2014

Let's address the film's controversy over its portrayal of Turkey as its nations. Throughout the film, the Turkish are not portrayed in a negative light. Like any other prison drama, some of the inmates and the prison guards as terrible people as it is a "dog eat dog world." The judges have empathy for his situation, and the only other 'terrible' people are those who are using him to fight a political game.

Midnight Express doesn't say that Turkish prisons are bad, but that all prisons are bad. If you're in prison, most of the time you made regretful mistakes or are mentally-ill. Why as a society do we insist on punishment? Oliver Stone always has a political message, and here he condemns the governments ruining lives in order to send a message. Stone usually has this flair in his direction, that it's easy to forget his depth of thought and thoroughly thought framing incorporated in the film.

While it is a prison drama for half of it's running length (the less interesting half), it also looks at the judicial system in non-Western countries and the mentality. Of course it is stereotypical, but at least its not viciously demeaning of other cultures like "Argo.".

Brad Davis plays the lead, a young man who tries to smuggle hashish out of Turkey that gets arrested. He is quite subtle most time, but when he needs to shed a tear and scream, he is prepared. An honest performance if there ever was one. John Hurt's character acting is memorable too, but he does play an archetype.

The cinematography and set-direction, chosen by director Alan Parker, makes a statement and is not there just to look pretty. Giorgio Moredor's blood-pumping and emotionally challenging score is one of the most memorable themes of the 70's. His range of composition is impressive.

Midnight Express is the first time Oliver Stone employed his signature 'innocent youth corrupted by society' theme and it may be his most effective. Alan Parker takes the technicality of Stone and adds emotion making for a thrilling adventure.