I first watched ‘Bangkok Hilton around 1992, when I was living in Dar es Salam, Tanzania; I borrowed it as a video from my local video shop and remember enjoying it enormously. It was made in 1989 as a for Australian TV and won awards for best actress (Nicole Kidman) and for being the most popular TV However, its low status as a work of cinematic art is apparent from IMDb, where it hardly gets a mention from the critics.
I watched ‘Bangkok Hilton again yesterday and today (the two parts, available on Youtube, span 4½ hours) and, once again, enjoyed it. It is a fine piece of popular entertainment – not profound, not subtle – but engaging throughout and gripping at the finish. Wikipedia informs me that the was specifically written as a vehicle for Nicole Kidman, and it is undeniable that she acts well and looks stunning; however, it is the acting of Denholm Elliott that makes this movie unforgettable.
I have long been a fan of Denholm Elliott, an English character actor with over 125 film or TV credits who never achieved true stardom, possibly because he never sought it. He has a
wonderfully expressive face and, in his understated way, dominates every scene he is part of. He is a much better actor than Nicole Kidman, and so is Hugo Weaving, who later achieved fame as Elrond in ‘The Lord of the Rings. Nicole Kidman, with her angelic face and superb mane of hair, is the eye candy, but these two act her off the screen.
As for the screenplay, it is pretty good and sometimes outstanding. IMDb fails to mention the identity of the writer, but Wikipedia gives his name as Terry Hayes. My research reveals he also wrote screenplays for two of the ‘Mad Max movies.
‘Bangkok Hilton did not immediately hook me but, as the plot progressed, I found myself more and more engaged. It is full of drama and suspense, set in exotic surroundings (Bangkok, Goa, London) with boldly drawn characters and a but not overly melodramatic, ending. The narrative thrust is provided by an innocent young woman falling prey to a and ending up in a Bangkok prison, where she is sentenced to death. The emotional core of the story is the relationship between father (Denholm Elliott) and estranged daughter (Nicole
Kidman), his reconnection with her and his final redemption. Personally, I found the fathers redemption more affecting than the daughters escape - a testament to the power of Denholm Elliotts acting.
How good is ‘Bangkok Hilton? The measly critical response on IMDb suggests that it is a piece of froth, a fashionable movie that tapped into Australians paranoia during the 1980s about having drugs planted in their luggage. In short, a movie of little consequence. I am not so sure.
In 1817, the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge invented the term suspension of disbelief, suggesting that if a writer could infuse human interest and a semblance of truth into a fictional tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the unreality of the narrative. Well, throughout ‘Bangkok Hilton (with one or two exceptions that Ill mention later), my disbelief was suspended; it was as if I were watching a slice of real life. And at the end of the movie, when Denholm Elliott tells Nicole Kidman he is her father and watches her walk towards the plane, I experienced the literary peak experience known as catharsis. The release of my emotions – delight that Nicole Kidman
No, ‘Bangkok Hilton is a movie with a good plot. Not a great movie, because it is too straightforward, too unsubtle, and so does not bear watching over and over again. Two viewings in a lifetime are enough for me. And it has its flaws. Nicole Kidman is imprisoned in a squalid, cell but retains her perfect skin and great because, I guess, this is what the audience wants: eye candy at the expense of realism. And the escape from prison – like the one in ‘The Shawshank Redemption – works just too well to be credible.
