Bangkok Hilton

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Bangkok Hilton
Directed by	Ken Cameron
Written by	Ken Cameron (story), Terry Hayes (story), Tony Morphett (story), Terry Hayes (screenplay)
Starring	Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving, Joy Smithers
Release date(s)	1989
Running time	270 mins
Language	English
IMDb profile

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 the fictional Bangkok prison in which the protagonist is imprisoned.

1 Story
2 Trivia
3 Characters
4 External links

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 so as to use her to ferry 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 she his.

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.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

The movie implies that Katrina was conceived at Christmas, meaning that she would be born around September. In dialogue between Richard Carlisle and Hal Stanton in Bangkok at Easter, we are told that she will be "21 next month", implying her birthday is instead in April.
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.