Bangkok Hilton
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Bangkok Hilton |
| Original title | Bangkok Hilton |
| Country of production | Australia |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 273 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ken Cameron |
| script | Ken Cameron, Terry Hayes , Tony Morphett |
| production | Terry Hayes, George Miller , Doug Mitchell |
| music | Graeme Revell |
| camera | Geoff Burton |
| cut |
Marcus D'Arcy , Henry Dangar , Louise Innes , Frans Vandenburg |
| occupation | |
| |
Bangkok Hilton is a 1989 Australian mini-series directed by Ken Cameron .
action
Twenty-year-old Australian Katrina Stanton, who was raised by her mother Catherine Faulkner and her grandmother and believed that her father died years ago, learns after her mother's death that it was not. She wants to meet her father Hal Stanton, and since the only lead she has - his younger brother James - leads to London, she decides to fly there.
She learns from her uncle in London that her father has ties to Thailand and that he is represented there by his lawyer Richard Carlisle. When she bought her return flight ticket, she met the handsome American photo reporter Arkie Ragan, who offered her his help in finding a father. They become friends and soon Arkie gives Katrina a professional camera with additional lenses and a reporter's bag. He also persuades her to first fly to Goa , India, for a short vacation. In Goa the two become lovers. Arkie gets heroin there and hides it in a secret compartment in Katrina's photo bag. Since there are currently no more places on the direct flights to Australia from Goa, she wants to fly via Bangkok . Arkie initially disagrees with this. In Bangkok they turn to attorney Carlisle, who then informs Hal Stanton that his daughter is looking for him.
During departure control, a service dog finds the drugs in Katrina's bag. While she is being arrested, Arkie pretends he doesn't know her and flies to Australia. She is being held in Bangkwang Prison, cynically called "Bangkok Hilton". Her father, a retired lawyer, tries to get her off with the help of his lawyer, with whom he is friends. You face the death penalty . Arkie Ragan, in reality a commercial drug dealer, has disappeared without a trace, so the court does not believe the Australian. The father tries unsuccessfully to find the drug dealer by tracing his itinerary and even traveling to London for research. In Goa it misses by a hair's breadth.
In prison, Katrina Stanton befriends Mandy Engels, who has been sentenced to death for drug trafficking. With their help, she soon knows which benefits can be obtained through bribery. Mandy's mentally handicapped brother, Billy, is in the men's section of the prison, so she knows how to get into the men's section.
Mandy and Billy are executed soon after. Katrina is also sentenced to death. But the lawyer and his client do not give up, even though there is no longer any legal possibility to get Katarina free. The father admits to the lawyer that before the end of the war in 1945 he himself was locked up in the prison as a prisoner of war and had betrayed an attempted breakout, as the Japanese executed two prisoners for every escaped. Now he can help his daughter with this knowledge: while she is being prepared for the outbreak, Carlisle and Stanton organize a fake passport and the clothes. After she broke out of prison by the men's division at the agreed time, they took her to the airport and was able to fly to Australia.
After father and daughter lay in wait in a hotel in Goa, they finally manage to hand the drug dealer over to the police.
Awards
Nicole Kidman was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award in 1989.
Trivia
- With this film role Nicole Kidman became known. Her father was played by Denholm Elliott , who was already seriously ill at the time and for whom it was one of his last roles.
- Canadian-born Hollywood actress Deborah Kara Unger made her debut as an actress as cellmate Astra.
- In the meantime, a similar situation has actually occurred with the Schapelle Corby case .
- In fact, there has been a similar case earlier, the echo of which in the English press may have contributed to the making of the film: that of Rita Nightingale, who was also in prison in Thailand because a friend had put drugs on her. That happened in 1977 - before Bangkok Hilton was born. However, Rita Nightingale was released through a pardon, which was very unusual at the time.
criticism
"A very strong film, with the best ingredients: love, lies, misunderstandings, glamor and breathtaking locations"
Individual evidence
- ^ Rita Nightingale, Heinz M. Adler: Bangkok hopelessly . Hänssler-Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-775-13003-9
-
↑ Lancashire Evening Telegraph ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), 25 years ago: RITA Nightingale, the 27-year-old Blackburn woman jailed for 20 years in Bangkok after. January 20, 2005 (English, fee required).
Web links
- Bangkok Hilton in the Internet Movie Database (English)