午夜末班车

上課的時候教授要求寫的....參考了許多此板大大們的影評寫出來的...有興趣看看吧....:) [劇情透露]

Midnight Express Movie Review

Almost all great films about prison break are not simply action-packed ticket-sellers that seek to thrill the audience. What makes these films great is the depth they went into to explore the darkest and at the same time, the brightest themes of human society and lives. Corruption, violence, sexual abuse, justice, injustice, homosexuality, dignity, love, freedom and hope, all of which are seen throughout the whole film. The setting itself is another interesting topic, meaning the prison, like a microcosm of the society outside. Overall, the film tells a story of man's endeavor to self-redemption and self-justice against odds from the political and structural obstacles of the real world, despite a sensible political undertone against Islamic nations.

The Story
On October 6, 1970, Billy Hayes, an American is on a trip back to America from Turkey with his girlfriend Susan. While boarding a flight at the Istanbul Airport, Billy is caught smuggling 2 kilos of dope. He is told by the authorities that if he cooperates in finding the actual drug dealer he will be released. For some reasons he tries to escape after the assistance and is captured. With the support from the American embassy, he is sentenced to only over four years for possession of drug, but is exempted from the more serious charges of smuggling and drug dealing.

The prison as expected is not a very hospitable place. It is crowded, filthy and ruled over by Warden Hamidou who punishes the prisoners with harsh physical and mental tortures. Billy, however, does manage to befriend a few inmates, an American named Jimmy, who is imprisoned for stealing candlesticks from a mosque, and an English named Max, who is sentenced for over 12 years for smuggling 100 grams of drug. At this point, it is becoming obvious that foreign prisoners are only tools and sacrifices in political maneuvers between the Turkish government and other Western governments. The only seeming way out is to catch the "midnight express", namely prison break. The inmates start planning the escape routes.

Many of their attempts failed, and the “insider” prisoner Rifki informs Hamidou on their scheme. Jimmy is taken away to brutal punishment. Max and Billy take revenge to Rifki by destroying his dashed money. Without any evidence, however, Rifki frames Max, and Max meets a similar fate as Tommy does. As Billy is told the court resentence him to up to 30 years in prison on drug smuggling, he cannot contain his emotions any longer. He attacks Rifki and bites off part of his tongue.
After many months in the prison ward for the insane, Billy is at the brink of total breakdown. This is when his girlfriend Susan visits and delivers him her love, hope to survive and some cash hidden within a photography book. Billy starts to plan to escape again. He bribes the Warden and asks to be transferred to the sanatorium where there is a chance of escaping. Instead, Hamidou drags Billy to a cell, beats him down and tries to rape him. In despair, Billy kills Hamidou and escapes with the Warden’s outfit. And it is revealed that Billy flees to Greece and flies his way back to The States and the reunion with his family.

Justice and Injustice
Often times when we try to define justice and injustice, we resort to the laws, which supposedly take into account the moral standards of a given society. But this is not necessary when the government takes other things onto their priority list such as their power of control, political stability, economic interests and in this case, political maneuvers with foreign nations. Under such conditions, laws can no longer uphold justice but become a tool wielded by the government for their own propuses.

In the movie, it is revealed that Nixon’s US government is at bad terms with the Turkish government. As a result foreign prisoners become valuable assets to the Turkish government in dealing with The US. In a beginning of the film, passengers for international flights not only need to pass through normal airport checking routines, before they board, soldiers also search their bodies one by one, and Billy is then found carrying dope. Let Billy’s personal case aside, this measure is questionable. It might be due to the Turkish government’s tightened measures against drug-smuggling, but it might very well be a political measure to attain more foreign prisoners.

In the prison, Billy learns that many foreign inmates are serving unreasonable sentence years. It might be the result of difference in customary laws regarding crimes in different countries, but it might as well be a way to retain the government’s valuable assets, as Billy after almost finishing serving his initial sentence, faces serious charges of smuggling and is resentenced up to 30 years in jail. It makes one wonder what causes such an abrupt change, could it be the result of a worsen diplomatic relationship with Turkey and The US? Either way, justice is vague. Should a man of a certain sociocultural upbringing face criminal charges in a different sociocultural background? Where is justice for individuals when they are of only small part of a much bigger scheme?

Billy, at his defense in court against smuggling charges, says “What is crime, what is punishment? It seems to vary from time to time, from place to place. What’s legal today is suddenly illegal tomorrow because some society says so. What’s illegal yesterday is legal today because everybody’s doing it. They can’t put everybody in jail.” Ironically it seems that his words are not even translated properly to the judge, assuming the judge does not speak English. So if the system does not grant individual justice, the only justice one can find is through self-redemption, a prison break, a breach through the system. This is the underlying premise in most prison break stories from “Shawshank Redemption” in 1995 to the hit American TV series “Prison Break” and to “The Next Three Days” in 2010. These screenplays’ success implies an unshakable belief in moral justice that most people uphold but is often disregarded due to different sociopolitical or cultural circumstances.

Prison and Society
One might expect prison to be a place of rehibilitation and reeducation for the social deviated so that they can be reassimilated back to the society. In reality, however, prison is hardly such a place in a sense that it has its own power control, hierarchy, division that works like ethnicity and nationality, social rules and taboos. The prison with all these elements as a whole is but a microcosm of the society that it derived from. Similar to Marxist's idea of the base and the superstructure, people with a certain set of sociocultural upbringings recreate the prison to be functional in the same way as the society does.

In the prison in "Midnight Express", ethnic or racial division is not clearly observed due to the relative narrow ethnic spectrum of the Turks, so the most prominent division is between the local and the foreign. The prison in America, however, as observed in "The Shawshank Redemption" or "The Next Three Days", is devided mostly among the white, the black, the Asian and the Mexican. This reveals the exact same way the respective societies devide themselves. What does not change is human's tendency to corruption, and this is seen very clearly in the film. When Billy's father comes to Turkey to hire a local lawyer in Billy's defence, the lawyer tells them that with money favourable court and judge can be arraged, and it does seem to work out seeing that Billy is only doing 4 years without serious charges of drug-smuggling.
It is the same trick but different places.

Hope and Prison
In "The Shawshank Redemption" Morgan Freeman speaks of "Institutionalization", and likewise Al Pacino in "Carlito's Way" talks about his thoughts on prison "You don't get reformed, you just run out of wind." The harsh reality in prison strips a man off everything he ever possesses that can define himself. Your possession is gone when you go in jail, your connections fade as family, friends and lover slowly drift away, your dignity is no more when someone forces you to fellatio, and hope is perhaps the most important thing above all, that once lost dooms a man.

One can see how devastated Billy is after hearing he is resentenced to more than 30 years in jail for smuggling. A hope for freedom taken away like that can drive anyone mad. Jimmy loses himself fanatically trying to escape and meets a gruesome end, and Max withers to a walking corpse after too much torture. Even out of prison, one has not really left the prison. The old man Brook's tragic suicide in "The Shawshank Redemption" proves just that. If Susan does not come to visit Billy and gives him the desire and hope to survive and self-rescue, it is not difficult to imagine how his fate will be sealed. Andy Dufresne says in his letter to Red "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things." It indeed is despite the various sociocultural background that an individual might be from.

The American Bias and Propaganda
From most modern and western point of view, the escape of Billy from prison might strike one as of a noble cause or is it? In the film, it is depicted that many foreigners are imprisoned on heavy sentences due to but "relatively" mild criminal deeds. Based on American standards, these sentences are unjust and barbaric, but is judicial freedom and independence not so highly upheld by the so-called democratic America? A few years back, The US president Clinton personally arrived in Singapore and successfully intervened with a case of a teenager being sentenced to caning. Such action is never seen among The States, but it however could be applied outside The US judicial boundaries.

Corruption is considered a despicable crime in America, who often times criticizes other non-western countries for their corrupted bureaucracy and judiciary. However, in "Midnight Express" Billy and his father's maneuvers to bribe the authorities for more favorable courts and judge are considered a justified mean to a noble end. This image of direct involvement in a corrupt judiciary system proves hypocritical to what The US government advocates.

In an interview with the real Billy Hayes, based on whose story this film was shot, he revealed that contrary to what is depicted in the film, the prison guards and wardens were mostly fair and hard-working, and only one guard as he recalled punished prisoners for whatever reasons. In reality, Billy did not kill anyone, and the Rifki character was solely created for the film, and the antagonist Warden Hamious did not die by Billy's hand but was shot to death by a discharged prisoner. After learning these facts, it makes one wonder if "Midnight Express" is but an American propaganda against Islamic or Arabic nations. Ironically, the film was allowed to be screened in Turkey. No matter the purposes the film was made for, artistic or commercial, it is not easy to ignore the sociocultural background of the place of production.

Other
The film's heart-wrenching soundtrack composed by Giorgio Moroder won both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for Best Original Score in 1979. Although the score is scarcely scattered through the film, leaving most of the scenes unaccompanied, it however adds more sense of realism and the occasional Arabic tunes display perfectly the Islamic setting of the film. The most memorable themes are the love theme and the ending theme which are very fitting and moving.

Cast-wise, Brad Davis for the role of Billy Hayes, Irene Miracle for the role of Susan and John Hurt for the role of Max received highly positive critics, winning respective Golden Globes awards for the year. Sadly, Brad Davis died of AIDS complications in 1991 at the age of 41, leaving his wife and only child.

1978年 電影 Midnight Express - 午夜快車

(觀後感)



片名：Midnight Express - 午夜快車
美國上映：1978年10月6日
香港上映：1978
導演：Alan Parker (1944-uk)
編劇：Oliver Stone (1946-usa) (真實故事)
演員：Brad Davis(1949-1991-usa), Irene Miracle(1954-usa), Bo Hopkins(1942)

每當看完一齣好電影，心情都非常滿足。
就如昨晚看了 1978年 的 Midnight Express 午夜快車。

Giorgio Moroder - Chase 和 Theme 這兩首曲。
兒時也不知道從那裡打進自己的耳朵，成為了經典而非常棒的音樂。

看著這個真實故事的劇情，心裡說（讚），口裡說（好）！

每次都一樣，看到好的舊片，總會加上一句，現在才看...

先說一下劇情：-

在 1970年，一位美國年輕人在土耳其機場因運毒而被捕。
有關當局警方盤問他的毒品來源，並告訴他，只要協助他們，成功逮捕毒品的源頭，就能釋放他。



可是年輕人輕率魯莽而試著逃亡但失敗，於是開啟了漫長的異地牢獄生涯，為期四年。

獄中生活當然不好受，還要在土耳其這個劣根性的國家。
除了面對殘酷成性的監獄守衛，還有同窗的奸詐囚犯。

雖然當中仍然有不少性情中人作伴，也曾提議一起逃獄，
年輕人當然拒絕，因為他監禁只是四年，若被逮捕，加監三五七年等閒事。



難捱的日子終於過去，刑期快將屆滿之際，監獄有通知他的案件重審，監禁不是四年，而是終身監禁...

一場惡夢才真正開始，逃獄不得不在他的念頭，而且要快。
就是這樣，展開了一場午夜快車...




電影看完了。

心裡很讚嘆！

首先，先說一下我家裡有位（電影蟲隱士），經常鞭撻我，時間有限，應該看什麼，不應該看什麼...
就像這齣午夜快車，是他力推～ 盡管看了，還是陪我看，（應該說，是要我看！）

開場不久，那經典的音樂 （Theme）隨即而來，把我的投入感推上了一層。

男主角 Brad Davis 出場，那輕率、犯法而任性的性格演繹，判囚、對抗、呆坐、失落、至絕望。
整個過程，看到他的演繹變化，做得相當好。



導演：Alan Parker 把故事說得透徹，尤其在土耳其那場語言不通的法庭戲，不合理的法律制度。
看到男主角默默接受這場審判，極為諷刺的語言和精神強暴。

男主角有兩段感情戲，非常簡短，卻令人深刻與大膽。
幸好我看的版本沒有被刪剪去。

盡管說這故事加了虛構而醜化土耳其國家，但都不重要。
因為始終看了一場好的電影。

原著小說是當事人 Billy Hayes 編寫的。



不過現在才知道，以前看的 1987年電影 監獄風雲，周潤發咬掉張耀揚耳朵的一整幕，原來九成似這齣 1978年的午夜快車，不論是角度，鏡頭，演員的姿勢。
相信他們也十分喜愛這電影，或他向原創者致敬。




還有心情：
年輕人也好，成年人也好，做任何事前要三思，犯法的真不要做，不要貪圖小利，真的會終身後悔，多多錢也不要。

*男主角Brad Davis跟 Brad Bitt

Brad Davis

Brad Bitt


導演：Alan Parker (1944-uk)


編劇：Oliver Stone (1946-usa)




* 跟隨著 午夜快車 的原聲音樂，邊寫下這小文，寫意的。
力推的電影！


多謝你看了這篇小文章。

如果覺得不錯，希望得到你們的贊賞。

因小小的贊賞，能給我大大的動力。

感謝！


文goods_hk @東加豆

(tonkabean@ymail.com)

Intense and mind-boggling. A seemingly deserving punishment from a stupid mistake turned out to be violating humanity. Humans weren't treated equally as humans sometimes. Sometimes they're benefits and sometimes they're cannon fodders, or just flickering head counts for the accountants. Why is it so simple for people to lose mercy yet so hard to retain justice and good ethics?

The monologue stuck in me is this:

What is a crime? What is a punishment? It seems to vary from time to time and from place to place. What's legal today is suddenly illegal tomorrow because some society says it's so and what's illegal yesterday is suddenly legal because everybody's doing it and you can't put everybody in jail. I'm not saying this is right or wrong. I'm just saying that's the way it is...And you, I just wish you could be standing where I'm standing right now and feel what that feels like because then you would know something that you don't know Mr. prosecutor. Mercy! You'd know that the concept of a society is based on the quality of that mercy, its sense of fair play, its sense of justice.

The movie passes a sense of magical reality with the downhill scene switching from the airport to the ghettos, and then to the prison, and finally to the psychiatric house. Nothing felt realistic yet everything happened for real. Both the acting and the shooting were blatant and bold to give that realistic and ridiculous feeling such as the brutal fighting between the protagonist Willliam Hayes and his fellow indiscreet prisoner Rifki, whose tongue was biten off by Hayes at the end of the fight, which was quite unexpected and cultish. Besides, you got to see a showcase of environmental homesexuality, the raw sexual desire and psychiatric decomposition from the prolonged detention. The overall atmosphere felt typical of the 1970s.

Lastly, another thing I agree with in the film:

Loneliness is a physical pain.

One last reminder, I watched this film because of Giorgio Moroder and Querelle

So now it's time for me to speak.
What is there for me to say? When I finish, you'll sentence me for my crime.
So let me ask you now:
What is a crime? What is a punishment?
It seems to vary from time to time and place to place.
What's legal today is suddenly illegal tomorrow.
What's illegal is suddenly legal because everybody's doing it.
You can't put everybody in jail.
I'm not saying this is right or wrong.
I'm just saying that's the way it is.
I've spent 3 and half years of my life in your prison.
I think I've paid for my error.
If it's your decision today to sentence me to more years ...
My lawyer ... that's a good one.
He says, ''Be cool, Billy.''
''Be good. I'II get you a pardon, an amnesty, an appeal.''
This has been going on now for 3 and half years.
I've been playing it cool. I've been good.
Now I'm damn tired of being good.
You said I had 53 days left.
You hung 53 days in my face, and then you took them away.
And you!(turn towards the prosecutor)
I wish you could be standing where I'm standing right now.
Then you would know something that you don't know:
Mercy!
You would know that a just society is based on the concept of mercy. Its sense of fair play and justice.
But I guess that's like asking a bear to shit in a toilet.
For a nation of pigs, it sure is funny you don't eat them.
Jesus Christ forgave the bastards, but I can't.
I hate.
I hate you.
I hate your nation and I hate your people.
I fuck your sons and daughters because they're pigs.
You're a pig.
You're all pigs.

经典的越狱片之一，即使在如今这个年代，无数参差不齐的越狱类型片奔涌而出，《午夜快车》也依旧是一部精彩的不可复制的好电影。

《午夜快车》的故事是由一个真实事件改编而来的。但在这里，这个故事要比原事件戏剧化很多，所表达出来的东西更为深刻丰富。都说艺术是源于生活却又高于生活的。这个故事来自生活，但它被奥利弗 斯通用戏剧化的文字重新组装了一遍，还是原来的骨架却被换了一身皮囊。这就好比现在的整容，初衷都是为了将更好的自己展现在众人眼前。幸运的是它没被整残，所以成了经典。

电影改编了剧情同时也改编了人物，这让原本可能太过极端可怕的故事在看似极端的环境下变得合理且温馨。电影就是有这个魔力让一切可怕的变成温馨甜蜜，反之亦然。在这个故事中所有的人物都是立体的。主人公Billy从一开始的胆怯紧张到后来为朋友杀人近乎疯狂；Jim从一个文弱友爱的书生竟为朋友而起了杀心……类似这样前后强烈的反差不仅仅体现出了人物的精神压力和性格变化，更是有效的凸显出了环境对于人的摧残，以及在畸形不健全的法律政治的操控下整个社会的阴暗可怕。相较于说教或是直接表现黑暗的故事，这样的情节安排更能打动人心，引起关注。确实，在这部影片播出后得到了美国政府的关注，解救了不少被土耳其莫名扣押下的“罪人”。

不说其他，只聊故事。从整体来看，这个故事是由一条主线发展的，开头十分钟主线故事的激励事件出场--Billy在机场被抓（这是第一幕的一个小高潮）。在Billy被抓前影片的节奏就是一张一弛的，导演从一开始就把电影的整体节奏规划好了。Billy在第一次被检查时的紧张，可以从他脸颊上不知是汗水还是自来水的特写感触到，被顺利放行后与女友在车上调情时的轻松有效的缓解了刚才的紧张，紧接着激励事件的爆发，成功的从一开始就奠定出了影片基调，使得之后的剧情发展基本都是按照这个基调、节奏继续。故事发展的张弛得当，让没有运用什么电影技巧的片子依旧能够扣人心弦，让人从剧情上喜欢这个电影。这足以说明这个剧本确确实实是一个好剧本，奥利弗 斯通既是一位优秀导演同时也是一位会讲故事的好编剧。

看评论前写两句，在加拿大的电影频道看的这个片子。看过越狱之后没有非常大的惊异，不过监狱的痛苦我想我肯定不能接受。有想到，现在在加拿大的日子就像坐牢，但是精神上的，不是真正监狱那种肉体和精神的双重折磨。电视上的版本删掉了探监的一部分，但土豆上有完整版的。主题音乐像是在一遍遍的哭泣，忏悔和对无尽头的压抑的控诉。有生之年，能亲身经历监狱的生活，如有机会出狱，才能感受自由的快乐。人在加拿大，生活安逸，精神却无助而孤独。想回家，但又不敢回，人生啊。

★★★（四星为满分） 据说，真正的比利·海斯于1970年被土耳其逮捕，因试图将大麻走私出境的指控而入狱。他有罪。他最初被判了3至5年的监禁，但后来土耳其当局决定以更严重的罪名对他进行审判。新的判决几乎是终身监禁。这位入狱的年轻大学生要到中年晚期才会被释放，如果有可能的话。 海斯越狱了，越过边境逃到了希腊，写了本关于他经历的畅销书。两年后，电影《午夜快车》上映了，改编自他的书，由布拉德·戴维斯饰演自恋、以自我为中心的海斯，并把故事改编成了一部充满暴力、性欲、道德和愤怒的耶稣受难剧。 难以忍受的是愤怒。当海斯还剩短暂的54天就可以重获自由时，却又被判了30年的监禁，他站在监狱的被告席上，谴责了所有土耳其人，骂他们是“猪国”。当然他们不是。虽然海斯是如此不幸，但我们必须提醒自己，毕竟，他是自愿走私大麻的。 所以我们很难同情比利·海斯。他碰运气，结果失败了。但你可能会发现讽刺的是，土耳其的经济是靠罂粟作物发展起来的，供应了世界上大部分海洛因，但国内却有如此严厉的禁毒法。 导演艾伦·帕克在马耳他找了座古老的英式城堡作为监狱，让世界各地的罪犯聚集于此。兰迪·奎德饰演神志恍惚的美国人；约翰·赫特饰演忧郁的英国囚犯，吸毒成瘾。还有诺贝特·魏瑟尔，饰演瑞典年轻人，在当年最奇怪的爱情场景中，成为了海斯的情人。 监狱场景充满了暴力和虐待，由一位残暴的看守安排，他的专长是抽打囚犯的脚掌。监狱里的重大罪行像是在蔑视看守；诸如毒品滥用、黑市交易、性侵等其他行为都被有意地忽视了。 帕克成功将监狱变成了一个完整而真实的世界，一个人类行为的缩影；这让我想起了E.E.卡明斯的小说《巨大的房间》。这部电影的美术指导特别擅长重现那个世界，比如海斯和他的朋友试图从古老的蓄水池逃跑的场景。还有关于地狱的幻想，比如在疯人院中囚犯不停地围着石柱转的场景。没错，这部电影营造了令人着迷的恐怖；但我唯一反对的是，它太急于让我们同情比利·海斯了。