April Showers: Midnight Express (1978)
Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 11:00PM 
Waterworks some nights at 11. This one is from the vaults from the first season. But it's worth a revisit as the film is currently available on Netflix Instant Watch.
I've always been a little bit a lot perplexed by the famous shower scene in Alan Parker's Midnight Express (1978). I'm not exactly sure why it's in the movie. Midnight Express strongest asset is arguably its expressive physicality and gritty tactile quality; you feel like you're right there in the grotty hellish Turkish prison, sweating and suffering along with Billy Hayes (Brad Davis). But the sexual vibes coming off of the movie are at times unfathomable. Is it gay? Is it bi? Is it straight? Is it just horny? Or is its ambiguous eroticism simply a by-product of casting a star as carnally charismatic as Brad Davis in the lead role?
As warm up to the famous shower scene we get a montage detailing the friendship of Billy and Erich (Norbert Weisser) a fellow prisoner. They've been in this hellhole for years. We see them do yoga togethe and bathe each other. They even duet on a private meditation mantra...
Monastery. Cloister. Cave. Prison
They lock eyes while chanting this repetitive phase. Billy drops his head with sadness at the word "prison" and we dissolve to a shot of the intimate friends showering together. In the steam Erich tenderly grabs Billy's soapy hand, slides his hands up Billy's body and pulls him slowly into a passionate kiss, though the steam obscures a lot of what's happening.
Billy hesitates and then reciprocates, though the steam obscures most of their kissing
Here's the curious part.
Moments after he's begun kissing Erich back, Billy pushes him away. He lifts Erich's hand to kiss it, shakes his head in a strangely condescending manner (I love you but I'm not that way) and exits the shower. Despite his willingness to work out, chant, bathe and lock lips with his friend while naked ... he draws the line at sex.
Erich is understandably bummed and the camera dissolves to an exterior shot of the prison, over his sad wet face.
Never mind sequential logic. Never mind that Billy has gone for (literally) years without sex. Never mind that he's already comfortable kissing, being bathed by and getting naked with Erich. Never mind that the real life Billy Hayes actually did have consensual sex with fellow prisoners according to his autobiography. In Oliver Stone's Oscar-nominated screenplay, "Billy" isn't having it.
This scene has always confused me on a basic human level, sexual orientation being beside the point. I'm gay but if you threw me in a prison for years and my only option for human tenderness was sex with a girl I liked who was into me? I wouldn't shake my head and walk away. I'd be... 'how often, when, where and what position? Let's go!'
Another 1978 picture, the elusive but strong Girlfriends has an oddly parallel sequence: the lead character's new female roommate begins to caress her shoulder and tries to kiss and undress her. Our heroine gently pushes the misguided girl's hand away and quietly says "no." I can only come to the reductive conclusion that in '78 this was exactly the way liberal Hollywood felt about the gays -- tolerated them, kinda dug them on an one-on-one basis, but were still totally weirded out by them. The sequence in Girlfriends is a throwaway and doesn't interrupt the movie's flow. In the case of Midnight Express, the sequence is given a lot of weight and the filmmakers seem to be letting their own sexual prudishness get in the way of narrative logic. There's nothing wrong with changing material from book to screen, don't get me wrong, but if Billy wasn't going to have sex with Erich, why was their foreplay still included in the movie?
Reader Comments (16)
I know! This is such a weird scene in such an otherwise sensibly made movie. It's sexy, but like you said, what's the point in showing such a tender near-moment?
I'd love to get a director's commentary on it. "We needed the audience to know our protagonist wasn't into men. But we also wanted to get a little wet and wild. The trick was finding the right place to draw the line..."
Nice write-up, I'll have to check it out. Not least because these narrative beats remind me of a 1930s autobiography about a POW in Turkey who did yoga in his prison cell. Rather than cutting out same-sex contact (which was likely but not mentioned in the book version either), the film version (The Lives of a Bengal Lancer with Gary Cooper) found it necessary to cut all the yoga stuff, which became the author's claim to fame. Oh, those unspeakable prison desires and how they change (or at least, what is unspeakable) over time...
Nice write-up, I'll have to check it out. Not least because these narrative beats remind me of a 1930s autobiography about a POW in Turkey who did yoga in his prison cell. Rather than cutting out same-sex contact (which was likely but not mentioned in the book version either), the film version (The Lives of a Bengal Lancer with Gary Cooper) found it necessary to cut all the yoga stuff, which became the author's claim to fame. Oh, those unspeakable prison desires and how they change (or at least, what is unspeakable) over time...
But, to put this in perspective of the times.................this was a HUGE step forward in the depiction of gay characters and gay sex in film. While the character of Hayes may have turned Erich down, he did not strike out at him, did not run screaming to the hills, did not shun him going forward...... There was no punishment for Erich except being turned down. It showed that a gay man and a straight man could be friends without issues. It was very important in moving acceptance of gay characters forward. The critical success of the film was icing on the cake.
It didn't take long for word to get out about the truth either which was another positive.
This film was made only 7 years after the Stonewall riots. and 3 years before Cruising with Pacino. It was the first major film role for Davis who had only done television. It was very risky, both for the producers, the actor and the studio. It might seem silly to have rewritten the scene to you youngsters, but it meant a lot those of us who saw it first hand.
i think the politically correct expression is "cocktease"
Excellent comment, Henry. Thank you for the insights.
"There was no punishment for Erich except being turned down"
Well yes but you fail to mention that he's being turned down by prime Brad Davis! BRAD DAVIS!!! Prime Bad Davis!!! That's more punishment than any human being's ever deserved. ;)
@JA: But who gets to even shower with Brad Davis?
JA--Paul Outlaw. Who gets to even make out with Brad Davis? And you know it happened more than once.
An excellent film. Oscar nod for Best Pix, Oscar win for Best Screenplay. Alas, no Oscar nomination for Brad Davis.
@brandz--Alas, no Oscar nom for Davis. It was 1977. He kissed a boy and he liked it.
(At least enough to look guilty when he walked away.)
Henry -- i appreciate your perspective on this. I imagine it was a revelation at the time but because they pulled their punches from the truth, narratively today it hasn't aged well because it doesn't make much sense.
This was the first time I ever saw two men about to make love on the big screen...maybe it's time for a re-make but who would play Billy- ( Brad Davis was beautifully perfect)
It seems that the whole homosexual experience the real Billy Hayes had was played down in the movie... according to Irene Miracle that is... Read my interview with her at http://retroladyland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/its-long-time-till-midnight-interview.html
I was just 11 years old (and male) when I went to see MIDNIGHT EXPRESS with my father back in 1978.... I found the scene rivetingly arousing and yet,sitting there right next to my dad... man, awkward as a MF'er!! Now, much later into life, and learning of the real Billy Hayes' open bisexuality does make one suspicious about the fact that it obviously remained a necessary historical factual alteration for Parker, the film's producers and the studio heads, like `Alright... It's okay that we portray a montage of moments like that between these characters, but that, ultimately, Hayes MUST be filmed rejecting these sexual advances, remaining safely heterosexual for the on-going and complete support of all audience members until the film ends!' and, as a 50 year old bisexual man, to that end, I call a most dutiful and well-earned response of `Bullshit!!'
lets say that we are in 1978 LGBT task wasn't popular and not acceted by a majority of the population even in Europe and usa ,even criminalised in some countries and could be punished to a death sentence it was really fatal to be caught guilty of sodomite's matter even not openly admited LGBT community in brief
It was almost a taboo, done in hidden sight.
I think that april shower's scene wasn't introduced foolishly in fact it was calculated not by chance that the director was been mentioning of sex sign softly to get inside the viewer's inconcience preparing them to get ready by steps to get into the final goal first scene was touching his girlfriend tits in the bus their to the airport second secen when hanged up to be beaten on his feet for stealing blanket the ( cruel) prison's head was been liking his lips once talk walk with the Billy then open his legs afer done on the ground third scene talk about homo as being strictly forbidden but done by almost of them ( Turkish ) as the first chance they get to fifth scene beating up the teenages for raping some boy sixth scene david and Billy showering each other then the main scene that was totally unexpected and out of logical chronic of the film it was unnecessary for the story because the story itself was amasing but the of showing two man showering each other naked having warm moment wasn't fit for the 70's and i think that was a special action to push and hurry up the matter of making people more familiar with such kind of scene and in the end artistically the movie was really great but the narrative wasn't innocent at all the director would t give impression that Muslim people are very brutals liars unhuman stone cold feeling because after each specific scene showing some cruel brutal deeds or dishonest behaviour was been followed by the ( azan) known as Muslim prayer 's speech call for three times why i don't know . also the movie is full of hiden messages that addresses our deep inconcience