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The Midnight Express Phenomenon

The International Reception of the Film Midnight Express (1978-2004)


This book studies the film The Midnight Express and analyses how it has negatively altered perceptions of Turkey until the present.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-61719-119-0
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Jun 24,2010
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 155
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-61719-119-0
$123.00
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The Midnight Express, a film adaptation of Billy Haye’s memoires of imprisonment in a Turkish jail for drug smuggling, became a commercial and critical success after its release in 1978. To this day, perceptions of Turkey amongst the public are coloured by the images of barbarism portrayed in the film. Dilek Kaya-Mutlu’s book on the Midnight Express “phenomenon” explores the success of the film and how this became implanted in public opinions of Turkey through its being promoted as a “true story”. Kaya-Mutlu is not the first to note the overt racist and homophobic messages of the film, but she broadens the discussion into the first monograph in English or Turkish. She considers how The Midnight Express initiated a theme of third-world imprisonment in cinema and why the controversy surrounding the movie still exists today. Kaya-Mutlu also explores the subtle differences in reactions towards the film which are observable in different cultures and countries. This book is a unique contribution to studies of the development of Turkey’s image in the world.

The Midnight Express, a film adaptation of Billy Haye’s memoires of imprisonment in a Turkish jail for drug smuggling, became a commercial and critical success after its release in 1978. To this day, perceptions of Turkey amongst the public are coloured by the images of barbarism portrayed in the film. Dilek Kaya-Mutlu’s book on the Midnight Express “phenomenon” explores the success of the film and how this became implanted in public opinions of Turkey through its being promoted as a “true story”. Kaya-Mutlu is not the first to note the overt racist and homophobic messages of the film, but she broadens the discussion into the first monograph in English or Turkish. She considers how The Midnight Express initiated a theme of third-world imprisonment in cinema and why the controversy surrounding the movie still exists today. Kaya-Mutlu also explores the subtle differences in reactions towards the film which are observable in different cultures and countries. This book is a unique contribution to studies of the development of Turkey’s image in the world.

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Contributor

DilekKaya-Mutlu

  • TABLE OF CONTENTS (page 7)
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (page 9)
  • INTRODUCTION (page 11)
  • 1 THE EMERGENCE OF MIDNIGHT EXPRESS AS A FILM AND PHENOMENON (page 23)
  • 2 MIDNIGHT EXPRESS AS AN "EASTERN" AND ORIENTALIST DISCOURSE (page 45)
  • 3 INITIAL RECEPTION OF MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (page 61)
  • 4 THE MIDDLE YEARS: MIDNIGHT EXPRESS IN THE 1980s AND 1990s (page 87)
  • 5 CURRENT RECEPTION OF MIDNIGHT EXPRESS:VIEWER COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET (page 107)
  • CONCLUSION (page 133)
  • APPENDIX A - CORRECTIVE TURKISH VIEWER COMMENT (IMDb) (page 143)
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY (page 146)