Excuse me.
- Nervous? - No.
- I hate fIying. - It's something I ate.
Maybe you're just excited about getting home.
- I've got to go to the john again. - I'II wait.
- No, I'II catch up to you. Okay? - Okay.
Passport.
Basket.
It's a frisbee.
You throw it and catch it. It's a game.
A game ...
- Are you okay? - Yeah, great. Want a piece of gum?
Thank you.
See this? Janis JopIin died yesterday.
Overdose. There never was anyone Iike Janis.
- There never was anyone Iike you. - Knock it off.
- You never take anything seriousIy. - Nothing.
- What's he saying? - I don't know.
They aIways have everything ass backwards in Turkey.
- BiIIy, what's the matter? - Passport. Susan, get on the pIane.
- What's wrong, are you sick? - Get on the pIane. Go.
I'm Iooking for my passport.
Harry, you'd better get rid of those grenades.
Get down.
- Name? - WiIIiam Hayes.
- WiIIiam ... - Hayes.
Hayes.
- American? - That's right.
Yes, American. United States.
American.
- Name? - Jesus ... WiIIiam Hayes.
- Name? - Hayes. H-A-Y-E-S.
Howdy, BiIIy. How are you doing? Okay?
I think these gentIemen have finished for the time being.
If you'd Iike to put your cIothes on.
The officer wants to know if you're afraid.
No, I'm not afraid.
The officer said there's nothing to be afraid of.
Co-operate, and you'II be on the pIane home.
- Where did you get the hashish? - From a cab driver.
In the pIaying shop at the bazaar.
- WouId you recognise him again? - I think so.
You decided to fIy at a bad time.
GuerriIIas aII over the pIace, bIowing up pIanes ...
Four pIanes in four days. Don't you read the newspapers?
There's been a shit storm over the fIow of heroin from Turkey.
- I didn't have heroin. - A drug is a drug.
It was my first time. It was onIy two kiIos.
It doesn't matter if it was 2 or 200 kiIos.
Catching you shows the worId Turkey is fighting the drug trade.
- Are you with the ConsuIate? - Something Iike that. Cigarette?
- What did you pay this cab driver? - $200. My Iast 200.
- How much did you figure to make? - I'd onIy seII it to my friends.
- I'm not a pusher. Honest. - It beats working.
- Have you got a famiIy? - Mother, father, brother, sister.
- Long IsIand. - It'II be tough on them.
- GirIfriend? - Yeah, she was on the pIane.
- She didn't know anything about it. - Lucky girI.
- She used to say I was Iucky. - Let's hope so, BiIIy.
You seem Iike a nice enough kid.
But you try it, and I'II bIow your brains out.
Mom and Dad, this is the hardest letter l've ever had to write.
l hoped to get out of this quickly, so you'd never know about it.
But thatjust isn't possible now. l don't know what's going to happen.
What can l say to you? Will "l'm sorry" make a difference?
Will it ease the pain, the shame you must be feeling?
Forgive me, please.
CouId I have a bIanket?
It's coId. CouId I have a bIanket?
- A bIanket! - Too Iate. Tomorrow.
He'II be here tomorrow, I think. Goodnight.
- Can you speak EngIish? - Your ceII is open.
BIankets, three ceIIs down. You get me one.
I needed a bIanket.
WiIIiam Hayes.
I needed a bIanket, I was coId!
Jesus ...
Come on, you must stand.
You'd better waIk around, or your feet wiII sweII up.
- You've got to be crazy. - We aII are. Smoke some of this.
You've been out for days, taIking aII kinds of shit.
- How does it feeI? - About as good as it Iooks.
Gecmis olsun. It's Turkish. It means, ''May it pass quickIy.''
- It Iooks Iike a cheap hoteI. - The room service is Iousy.
I'm Jimmy Booth. This is Erich ... something Swedish.
- Just Erich. - He cIeaned you up.
Thanks. I'm BiIIy Hayes ... at Ieast I used to be.
- Why peacocks? - They use them instead of dogs.
They scream Iike mad if they're disturbed and they don't get rabies.
- Who are the kids? - LittIe fuckers ...
Thieves, rapists, murderers ... You name it, they do it.
Don't trust any of them. They teII Rifki everything.
He's the squeaI around here. He seIIs tea, -
- hash, bIankets, anything for a buck.
- What are you in for, hash? - Yeah.
- Where? - At the airport.
That's heavy. This ain't the good oId USA.
In Turkey, it's a fucking accident if you're innocent.
- Nobody here is innocent. - Don't pay too much attention.
Anything is possibIe in Turkey. They may not hit you for smuggIing.
If they make it possession, you might even get baiI.
If you make baiI, you're free. Sneak across the border to Greece.
Sure, keep dreaming. See where it gets you. Like Max.
It's going to be a whiIe before you taste a hamburger again.
- You broke the Iaw. - The Iaw is sometimes wrong.
The Iaw is never wrong!
The fucking Iaw is.
- PeopIe get on his nerves. - What's he in for?
SteaIing from a mosque.
- What did he steaI? - Two candIesticks.
- That's aII? - Jimmy has more baIIs than brains.
He was in for a year and a haIf before he even toId his parents.
- What about you? - Hashish, Iike most foreigners.
- What did they give you? - 1 2 years. I had 1 00 grams.
You've got to get a good Iawyer. TaIk to the EngIishman. Max.
He's been in the Iongest. Seven years.
Gastro. Stomach medicine.
It's got codeine in it. It's the best I can do around here.
Max ...
- Lawyers ..? - Oh, yeah.
There's no straight Iawyers in Turkey.
They're aII bent.
Bent as hairpins. OccupationaI necessity.
They have speciaI cIasses in corruption at night schooI.
If you're suspected of honesty, you're disbarred.
I knew a Iawyer feIIow once.
He got that Frenchman off. La Roche.
A big smuggIer.
200 kiIos.
He put enough bread in enough pockets. Got baiI.
Vanished.
- His name? - Who?
- The Iawyer. - Lawyer?
Who got the Frenchman off.
YesiI is his name.
I don't know anything eIse about him.
YesiI.
The best thing to do is get your ass out of here.
- Yeah, but how? - Catch the midnight express.
What's that?
It's not a train. It's a prison word for ... escape.
It doesn't stop around here.
Dad, I'm sorry.
Forget it.
I'II punch you in the nose Iater. We've got to get you out of here.
This is a suit I brought for you.
Smarten you up a IittIe.
- Are you aII right? - Yeah.
How's Mom?
WeII, she's bad.
She couIdn't make the trip. You know Mom. Her boy ...
Susan toId us before we got your Ietter.
She's saving to come back here ...
Don't Iet her come. How's Rob? How's Peg?
They're the same. You know.
We toId the neighbours you were in hospitaI in Europe.
This is StanIey DanieIs. He's the American ConsuI here.
BiIIy, we're going to do everything in our power to get you out of here.
That's Necdit YesiI, the Iawyer you asked for.
I know exactIy what you feeI, but you must not worry.
We'II get the right court and the right judge.
I'II arrange everything, just right.
I understand that if you get baiI, it's easy to get across the border.
That's what we're shooting for. I've spoken to the State Department.
Right now, reIations with the Turks aren't too good. Nixon upset them.
- Our best bet is right here. - Dad, I'II pay you back for this.
Money doesn't matter, BiIIy. Not at this stage.
- Where did you get that Iimp? - I twisted my ankIe.
- Where are you staying? - The HiIton.
- How do you Iike IstanbuI? - Interesting pIace.
The food is Iousy. The crap they seII in the restaurants ...
I had to run to the toiIet. You shouId have seen the toiIet.
I'II eat at the HiIton every night. Steak, French fries and ketchup.
BiIIy ...
- Why did you do it? - Money.
I know you kids smoke that stuff and we drink booze, -
- but taking it across the border, that's stupid.
I know.
Dad ... get me out of here.
I promise you. Just sit tight.
Let me work with Mr. DanieIs and Mr. YesiI here.
We'II get you out, okay?
Hey, BiIIy ... Okay?
Okay.
- What did that prosecutor say? - It's not important.
We made our case. You spoke weII. The judge Iiked you.
Mr. Hayes, the judge is coming back.
- Four years, two months. - Four years?
We'II appeaI.
It'II be reduced for good behaviour. It is onIy for possession.
The prosecutor wanted a Iife sentence for smuggIing.
To be honest, Mr. Hayes, it is a great victory.
With good time, it works out to about three years.
And then there's the appeaI.
DanieIs and YesiI are aII working for you.
We're trying to get you transferred.
DanieIs thinks there might be a poIiticaI amnesty any month now.
AII right, BiIIy ...
I know it sounds tough, but we are going to get you out.
I promise you. Don't do anything stupid.
They couId pIay with your sentence.
AII right, now ...
I'm putting $500 in the bank. Anything you need, you write.
There's food here, candy, writing paper, -
- books, cigarettes, soap, toothbrush ...
I've soId insurance for 30 years.
Now I've got to see my own son ...
Jesus!
If I couId be where you are ... I'd be there.
I Iove you, Dad.
You take good care of my boy, or I'II have your fucking head!
Dear Susan, 1970 has now passed into 1971.
You can drift in here and never know you're gone.
You can fade so far out, you don't know where you are anymore.
l find loneliness is a physical pain that hurts all over.
To the Turks everything is "söyle böyle".
lt means "like this, like that. " You never know what will happen.
All foreigners are "ayip. " They're considered dirty.
So is homosexuality, but they do it every chance they get.
There are about 1,000 things that are "ayip".
You can stab or shoot somebody below the waist but not above.
Stabbing somebody in the ass is considered Turkish revenge.
l know it must sound crazy to you, but this place is crazy.
One day, one of the new kids was raped.
So they picked out four of the worst kids.
Then there's Rifki. The more l know of him, the more l hate him.
$1 0 for this shit? You pig.
There are no pigs in Turkey.
- This shit is shit. - No, it's good. Good shit.
- You big shit. - Yeah, me big shit.
You asshoIe.
What is it with you? Just what the heII is it, man?
You don't fuck with me, I don't fuck with you.
You fuck with me aII the time. You make crummy tea.
- You rip us off on the hash. - I make speciaI tea for you.
We have to Iive Iike brothers. We have to be in here together.
For aII the money you've got, you've got nothing.
- You are American, you don't know. - Know what?
Dog eat dog.
You fuck other man before he fucks you. And you must fuck Iast.
Come on down.
Egbert ... Sodding cat.
WiIIiam!
Are you aII right?
The new American Ambassador is foIIowing your case.
He says there is progress. You want a cigarette?
But there is another route ...
... that is quite possibIe.
For a proper amount of money, it is possibIe -
- to convince the ten officiaIs to Iose track of your papers -
- before the High Court in Ankara confirms your sentence.
And you couId be in Greece by the time they discover the mistake.
But I have to act before the officiaI sentence is handed down.
And for that I must pay certain officiaIs.
What's that?
The bIueprints to the prison, man.
There was this German architect in the hospitaI.
He Iet me copy them.
It's too bad you didn't have a Xerox machine.
There are two ways out of here.
One is over the roof, but that's kind of risky.
The other way, I'II need your heIp, and that is under.
A tunneI?
- Are you serious? - This is not StaIag 1 7.
That's where you're wrong. The tunneI is aIready buiIt.
There's a basement where they used to keep weapons.
Beneath that are the catacombs the Christians buiIt to bury their dead.
We're sitting right on top of it ... here.
The kraut says that there's a bunch of hoIIow shafts.
They're Iike dumbwaiters, aII aIong these waIIs.
One of them is right next to our shower.
If we get in there, we can get down into the catacombs.
With three of us working, it shouIdn't take too Iong.
I swear I heard a coupIe of dead Christians singing down there.
- You stop shitting me, man. Okay? - How do we get into the shaft?
We knock three times and say we're a friend of the deceased.
I'm getting this together and I don't need no gastro-head aIong.
You understand me?
- We go through the waII. - We go through the waII?
Go through the waII.
There's no reinforced steeI in those shower waIIs.
It's reaI soft from underground seepage.
You can aImost push it over.
AII we have to do ...
We onIy have to use your screwdriver to scrape the mortar out.
We puII out three stones and squeeze through ...
Squeeze through, and get our ass down the shaft.
- It's a two-night operation. - What do we do in the catacombs?
What do you want, a door?
There's miIes of them down there.
- You must be fucking crazy. - They've got to come up somepIace.
You won't find any catacombs, you'II just finish up in section 1 3.
BiIIy ... the tunneI or the roof?
Forget the waII. Rifki's aIways there.
- The roof is guarded. - HeIp me get into the shaft.
If we get caught, I'II get the shaft.
I'II be back up to three years again, maybe more.
Fuck it, then. You choose your own death.
I'II do this thing on my own. I'm taking the roof out of here.
No! I can't take it!
Dear Susan, Jimmy was caught and beaten badly.
He got a severe hernia and lost a testicle.
He's been in the sanatorium for months.
ln comparison, my problems seem small.
But 2?years have gone by.
The Turks are slowly draining my life away.
- Why do you keep your hair short? - To remind me that I hate it here.
Prison, monastery, cIoister, cave.
Prison ...
- Okay. - I've thought of another way.
- Another way what? - Out of here.
When I was in the sanatorium, there was onIy one guard on duty.
- I couId have got out of there. - Why didn't you?
As soon as I couId waIk, they threw me back in here.
- Lucky you. - I teII you, BiIIy ...
Another ward in the sanatorium had no guard on it at aII.
- Who was in it? - Three guys.
- What was wrong with them? - I don't know.
- I think they were dead. - It figures.
I've got to go. It's DanieIs! Turkish justice has done it again.
They're going to Iet me off. Jimmy, I'm going home!
God! ''I've got to go.''
What's wrong?
Sit down, BiIIy.
I'm afraid I have some bad news for you.
- Is it Dad? Mom? - No.
- You're going to have a new court. - What do you mean?
The prosecutor objected to your sentence for possession.
He wanted a smuggIing conviction. The Ankara court reviewed it.
It seems everyone wanted an exampIe made. A scapegoat.
We've been notified that they rejected the sentence.
There were 35 judges in the court.
28 voted for ... a Iife sentence.
The Iower court in IstanbuI had to go aIong with the decision.
The judge Iikes you. He notified your dad.
What do you mean, Iife?
- Life for what? - BiIIy!
I have 53 days Ieft!
So now it's time for me to speak.
What is there for me to say?
When I finish, you'II sentence me for my crime.
So Iet me ask you now:
What is a crime?
What is a punishment?
It seems to vary from time to time and pIace to pIace.
What's IegaI today is suddenIy iIIegaI tomorrow.
What's iIIegaI is suddenIy IegaI because everybody's doing it.
You can't put everybody in jaiI.
I'm not saying this is right or wrong.
I'm just saying that's the way it is.
I've spent 3?years of my Iife in your prison.
I think I've paid for my error.
If it's your decision today to sentence me to more years ...
My Iawyer ... that's a good one. He says, ''Be cooI, BiIIy.''
''Be good. I'II get you a pardon, an amnesty, an appeaI.''
This has been going on now for 3?years.
I've been pIaying it cooI. I've been good.
Now I'm damn tired of being good. You said I had 53 days Ieft.
You hung 53 days in my face, and then you took them away.
And you!
I wish you couId be standing where I'm standing right now.
Then you wouId know something that you don't know.
Mercy!
You wouId know that a just society is based on the concept of mercy.
Its sense of fair pIay and justice.
But I guess that's Iike asking a bear to shit in a toiIet.
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 peopIe.
I fuck your sons and daughters because they're pigs.
You're a pig.
You're aII pigs.
My hands are tied by Ankara.
I must sentence you, WiIIiam Hayes, to be imprisoned -
- for a term no Iess than 30 years.
May it pass quickIy.
Got the old lstanbul blues
lstanbul blues
they give me 30 years
ain't got nothing left to lose ...
We are going to get you out. l promise you.
Don't do anything stupid. They could play with your sentence.
l was busted at the border ...
The best thing to do is get your ass out of here.
The best way you can.
Hey, I think I found it. Come here.
Listen to that. Do you hear anything?
I toId you, you suckers. You didn't beIieve me.
Keep it down.
Look how soft this is. It'II be easy.
Go and get Rifki's poker, but don't wake him up.
It's reaIIy soft. It's coming.
- Jimmy, it's coming. - Here, use this.
It's coming reaI easy. It's coming right out.
It's easier than I thought. It's a piece of cake.
It's coming.
Like butter.
Hey, Max. Rifki.
- Keep checking for Rifki. - It's okay.
- Watch it. - I thought you wanted out of here.
- They're Ioose. - Let's try.
- Watch your hernia. - Fuck that.
- Okay? You got it? - Yeah.
That's it. It's the shaft.
It's coming.
It's okay.
- Let's go, BiIIy. - It's too Iate. We're not prepared.
We'II go tomorrow. It's too Iate.
Let's put them back. HeIp me.
Any fuck-ups and we shouId be back by dawn.
You got everything?
Maps, raiIroad, bus timetabIes.
Okay, Iet's do it.
- Can you see? - No.
Come on, Max, get your ass down here.
This way to IstanbuI, baby.
Watch it. Mind how you go there.
Are you aII right? Come down this poIe and cross over.
Terrific.
- AII right, it's a tunneI. - Let's go.
Come on, Max.
Fuck! What is that? Shit!
Shit! It's a dead end. The Turks must have bIocked it up.
Shit!
BiIIy!
- What the fuck are we going to do? - What time is it?
4:30.
- Go back. - You must be fucking joking.
We go back, seaI it up, and come back tomorrow.
Every night, untiI we get out.
There's got to be a way out.
BiIIy, they found it. Rifki.
No do, no do.
I'm going to kick your brains aII over your fucking kitchen.
Fine! Good. Man to man.
When we're finished, I'II bring Hamidou and he'II kick your ass.
Let's go, Max. Come on.
- I know what I'm going to do. - What?
- I'm going to cut his throat. - Whose?
Rifki.
What have I got to Iose? Anyway, I'd reaIIy enjoy it.
Why don't you sit down? You're in no shape to kiII anybody.
- I want to cut his fucking throat. - It's aIready been cut.
Then I'II cut his baIIs off.
You know, if you reaIIy wanted to hurt Rifki ...
His money. SteaI that and you steaI his Iife's bIood.
CouId you see his face if everything he had got snatched?
- If we onIy knew where he hid it. - I know where it is.
Max ...
The money?
Them that hides can find, says I.
I've seen him, the big tit.
He Iooks at it, Iate at night.
TaIking to it.
Where?
Max, where?
The money, where?
In his radio. In the back of his radio.
That's why he never pIays it.
- He never had one. - Soon he's back on the street.
No friends, no money, pIenty of enemies.
- I'II drink to that. - Me, too.
- I've just got some news on Jimmy. - ReaIIy? What?
They sent him to hospitaI. They ruptured his hernia again.
- Shit! - I guess he didn't taIk.
- Look at Rifki, wearing a suit. - Maybe he's got a new job.
Jesus! Not again.
Hashish.
You're kidding! Me?
I didn't seII him anything.
Rifki's Iying. He's a Iiar!
Rifki!
Cigare, cigare, s'il vous plait.
PIease, Iisten to me.
Excuse me, I've been wanting to speak to you. You're an American?
Yes, America. My name is Ahmet.
I studied phiIosophy at Harvard, and aIso at Oxford.
I aIso studied in Vienna, and now I study here.
They put me here. They say I raped a IittIe chiId.
They'II never Iet me go. They won't Iet you go, either.
They teII you they'II Iet you go, but in fact you stay.
You see, we aII of us come from a factory.
Sometimes the factory makes bad machines that don't work.
The bad machines don't know they're bad machines.
But the factory knows you are one of the machines that doesn't work.
I think we've spoken enough for today.
I wish you goodnight.
My God!
BiIIy!
What have they done to you?
Your famiIy is fine.
Senator BuckIey has made a speciaI pIea on your behaIf.
They've caIIed you a pawn in the game between Nixon and the Turks.
The Ietters are coming in. PeopIe do care.
What?
Take it off.
- You'II just make yourseIf ... - Take it off.
S'il vous plait.
BiIIy ...
I wish I couId make it better for you. PIease, don't.
Don't.
- Susan. - Yes, BiIIy.
I Iove you.
Your father gave me this for you.
There's pictures of your mom and dad, and Rob and Peg.
And in the back there's a picture of your oId friend Mr. FrankIin.
Remember him? From the bank.
He's over in Greece now. He bought a ticket.
I'II give it to them for you.
Don't count on them. Don't count on anyone but yourseIf.
You're running out of time. If you stay here, you'II die.
You've got to get yourseIf together. You've got to get out of here.
Good morning, my American friend.
There wiII be troubIe if you go this way.
A good Turk aIways waIks to the right.
Left is Communist. Right is good.
You must go the other way.
The other way is good.
Where are you going? Why don't you waIk the wheeI?
What is the matter, my American friend?
A bad machine doesn't know he's a bad machine.
You stiII don't beIieve you're a bad machine?
To know yourseIf is to know God.
The factory knows, that's why they put you here.
- In time you'II know. - I aIready know.
You are a bad machine, that's why the factory keeps you here.
Do you know how I know?
I know because I'm from the factory.
I make the machines.
Max.
Max!
I'm going away. I've come to say goodbye.
You see, if I stay here, I'm going to die.
You'II die. Don't die, Max.
PIease, don't die.
I'm going to come back for you.
You hang on for me.
You're not taking me to the sanatorium!
THE END Subtitles by: Reklame