Daily Dialogue — February 21, 2015

“You’re not taking me to the sanitarium! You’re not taking me to the sanitarium!”

— Midnight Express (1978), screenplay by Oliver Stone, book by William Hayes and William Hoffer

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Prison.

Trivia: Oliver Stone was a new, largely untested screenwriter at the time so when he was commissioned by Alan Parker and producers Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, they fully expected his first draft to be just a starting point. Parker indeed expected to take over and write the screenplay after Stone had completed his first attempt. The screenplay that Stone duly delivered blew all three away; they all had to admit that it was a superb first draft.

Dialogue On Dialogue: The ending of the movie, as depicted here, is as violent and ruthless as the rest of the story. Prior to principal photography, director Alan Parker wrote a letter to the cast and crew. Publicity for the picture reproduced it. It said: “Firstly to say something before we start. Secondly, to warn you about a very difficult film. And thirdly, because I heard Ingmar Bergman always did it! As you have gathered from the script, it is my intention to make a very violent, uncompromisingly brutal film, the subject matter of which will no doubt take its toll on us all. This is not just a boring prison story set in claustrophobic cells and corridors. It’s much, much more than that — a prison no one’s ever seen before…It’s difficult to put into words, but I would like the audience to be shaken and shocked that such things happen, almost to the point of disbelief — but never to lose them”.