The only film Oliver Stone apologised for making: “It was an awful movie and very humiliating”
Oliver Stone is one of the most outspoken filmmakers of his generation, for better or worse. His fearless approach to storytelling has seen him tackle countless taboo subjects, often stirring controversy along the way. JFK posed provocative questions about the President Kennedy assassination, Platoon exposed the brutal realities of the Vietnam War, and Wall Street laid bare the greed-driven cult at the heart of American capitalism. Stone’s work consistently challenges audiences, forcing them to confront uncomfortable truths.
The director wouldn’t be where he is today if he went around apologising for things, even if he probably should. In 2016, Stone produced and appeared in a documentary titled Ukraine on Fire, which was accused of being dangerously pro-Vladimir Putin, a figure Stone has publicly praised elsewhere. Even then, he stood firm in his beliefs, which is why it was so shocking when he finally said sorry for a project he’d been involved in right at the start of his career.
Stone apologised to the people of Turkey for his depiction of their country in 1978’s Midnight Express. The film, for which Stone wrote the screenplay, stars Brad Davis as a young American sentenced to prison in Turkey for trying to smuggle drugs. The Turkish penal system was presented as a violent, desolate place where corruption and savage beatings were the orders of the day. 34 years after he wrote it, Stone admitted that the movie might have taken things a little too far.
“It’s true I over-dramatised the script,” Stone said, as reported by The Guardian. Midnight Express proved to be a huge coup for the ex-soldier, as it won him the Oscar for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ and helped him land future writing gigs on Conan the Barbarian and Scarface. However, in a proper Oliver Stone move, he wasn’t entirely repentant in his comments, saying that “the reality of Turkish prisons at the time was also referred to … by various human rights associations.”
While incarcerated, Billy Hayes (Davis) encounters a litany of horrors. Foreigners are treated harshly, regularly beaten by guards and left to freeze to death in cold cells. Physical, mental, and sexual torture are commonplace, as Billy – whose ordeal is based on the memoirs of a real prisoner – tries to escape, knowing that he will likely die if he stays inside.
“It was an awful movie and very humiliating, especially if you were a Turk living abroad,” said Banu Revan, a Turkish Harvard Graduate who was also interviewed for the piece. “Whenever you said you were from Turkey, Americans would automatically say, ‘oh yes, I’ve seen Midnight Express. Isn’t that the place where they cut the hands off people who are caught stealing?’ as if we lived in Saudi Arabia! It was ridiculous.”
The country’s culture minister, Erkan Mumcu, who met with Stone during his visit to Turkey, echoed these sentiments. “Mr Stone’s expression of regret doesn’t heal the wounds our nation [has suffered] but it’s still important,” he said. “There was a time when, worldwide, many artists and intellectuals heavily criticised Turkey which resulted in our country having a bad image.”
Midnight Express is a reminder of just how powerful film (and art in general) can be. Turkey’s reputation suffered for years as a result of the popularity of the movie, so much so that it forced one of the most stubborn directors in all of Hollywood to admit that he might have gotten things wrong.
