Bangkok Hilton

Infobox_Film
name = Bangkok Hilton


imdb_id = 0096540
writer = Ken Cameron (story),
Terry Hayes (story),
Tony Morphett (story),
Terry Hayes (screenplay)
starring = Nicole Kidman,
Denholm Elliott,
Hugo Weaving,
Joy Smithers
director = Ken Cameron
producer =
distributor =
released = 1989
runtime = 270 mins
language = English
music = |Graeme Revell awards =
budget =

"Bangkok Hilton" is a six-part Australian mini-series, made in 1989 by director Ken Cameron. In 2000 it was released on DVD in the United Kingdom, with a four-and-a-half hour running time; there is also another DVD edition with a drastically shortened length. The title of the mini-series is, in the story, the nickname of a fictional Bangkok prison in which the protagonist is imprisoned.

There are actually three hotels in Bangkok currently affiliated with the Hilton Hotels Corporation: Millennium Hilton Bangkok, Conrad Bangkok and Conrad Residences. At the time the movie was made, Hilton International Bangkok (opened in 1983) was also in business. It is now owned by Raffles International and is known as Nai Lert Park Bangkok.

Plot

The central plot of "Bangkok Hilton" revolves around Katrina Stanton (Nicole Kidman), who is imprisoned and sentenced to death in Thailand for drug smuggling. The drugs were planted on her by her boyfriend who was using her to smuggle the drugs out of the country.

"Bangkok Hilton" also contains a sub-plot focusing on Katrina Stanton's quest to find her father, Hal Stanton (Denholm Elliott). Hal Stanton had been a POW in World War II (as had Denholm Elliott), imprisoned in the very same jail that now holds his daughter. By the time the movie catches up to him, though, he has lapsed into alcoholism and seems on the verge of a melancholic demise. As the story unfolds, though, he becomes his daughter's last hope, and he is.

The plot has much in common with Alan Parker's "Midnight Express", which was loosely based on the true story of an American caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey. "Bangkok Hilton" arguably served as inspiration for two recent Hollywood releases, "Return to Paradise", starring Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix, and "Brokedown Palace", starring Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale.

Impact

After the series aired, the name "Bangkok Hilton" has regularly been used in the media to refer to any and all Thai prisons as if those prisons were actually nicknamed "Bangkok Hilton" in real life. Some news reports state that the Klong Prem women's prison carries the nickname "Bangkok Hilton" [cite web
url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/26/1032734276050.html
title = That one bad trip to Bangkok
accessdate = 2008-01-05
author = Mark Baker
date = 27 September 2002
publisher = The Age]

A 2004 BBC documentary about Bangkwang prison - a "male only" prison - was titled "The Real Bangkok Hilton" [BBC Program on Bangkwang Prison [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/3899549.stm] ] . Some news reports have claimed that "Bangkwang" prison itself carries the real-life nickname "Bangkok Hilton". [cite web
url = http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2005/oct/23/thailand.darktourism.observerescapesection
title = Checking in to the Bangkok Hilton
accessdate = 2008-02-08
author = James Hopkirk
date = 23 October 2005
publisher = The Observer]

Characters

* Nicole Kidman - "Katrina Stanton"
* Denholm Elliott - "Hal Stanton"
* Hugo Weaving - "Richard Carlisle"
* Joy Smithers - "Mandy Engels"
* Norman Kaye - "George McNair"
* Jerome Ehlers - "Arkie Ragan"
* Pauline Chan - "Pretty Warden"
* Noah Taylor - "Billy Engels"
* Richard Carter - "Detective King"
* Gerda Nicolson - "Lady Faulkner"
* Judy Morris - "Catherine Faulkner"

References

External links

*
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=589108;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Bangkok Hilton at the National Film and Sound Archive]