Bangkok Hilton

I saw this film along time ago, when I was about 10 or 11 years old. In recent times I've mention it to many persons and nobody seems to have ever seen or heard of it. This is hands down one of the best movie/performance I have ever seen in my entire life. Anyone who has any doubt as whether Nicole Kidman can act, watch this movie. I honestly don't want to say anything about the movie, other than get it and watch it. I'll state the obvious, the story took place in Bangkok, Thailand. I cannot understand why it has not been seen by the masses, since 'Hollywood' like to ride 'the celebrity of the moment' band wagon and ironically this is actually a good wagon to hop on. The mini contains typical Hollywood stuff, Deception, Confinement, Damsel in Distress, a well as 'Pharmaceutical' and a 'Pharmacist'. Try to get it and watch it, It's tight.

I have just had the luck to see this TV mini again recently. The second viewing just reinforced my impressions from my first viewing a few years ago.

This is Nicole Kidman playing an extraordinary rôle in a great film, before she became another one for the Hollywood heap. Since this film, I have only ever seen her in two better rôles: "The Portrait of a Lady" (qv) and Robert Daldry's astounding masterpiece "The Hours" (qv).

A two-part mini of 90 minutes each, I had to watch the whole three hours in one go: but was not at all tired on either experience. "Bangkok Hilton" does not mess about with unnecessary details, but gets you right into the story from the beginning, especially in the second half which includes those tremendous prison scenes in Thailand's capital, from whence logically the film's title.

Yes, one of Nicole Kidman's earlier works, but one in which you know she was on the road to great things. A few stupidities got in the way - like "Moulin Rouge!" (qv) - but even so, one can now see where she did her spade-work, and "Bangkok Hilton" is one of the best examples.

When it first starts out it is about Katherine, a rather fragile but lovely young woman, always being derided by her mother just so she doesn't forget she is an unlovable homebody of a woman. Think of this segment as a maternal version of "The Heiress".

And then along comes a suitor, an unlikely romantic lead in the person of Denholm Elliot. This mysterious attorney sweeps Katherine off her feet. But then a revelation- Elliot's character is a disgraced WWII soldier who betrayed his fellow soldiers when he was a POW. There are mitigating factors, but nonetheless, mom now has a reason to sweep this guy out of Katharine's life. And then Katherine discovers she is pregnant. K's mom makes K have the baby AND raise it herself mainly so she can never let Katherine forget that she made a fool of herself over a man. Just like she always said she would do. Funny, my grandma made cookies for me and read me stories. But I digress.

And then Katherine dies and leaves her daughter, Katrina (Nicole Kidman) their Australian estate. Katrina has never been off the ranch and wants to find her father, so off this naive young girl goes into the world. She has as poor judgment in men as her mother had been chronically accused of, and so she ends up with a traveling companion that gets her in deep trouble for heroin possession in Thailand. And from there it becomes a nightmare of a film. Not in quality - it is very good - but in the sordid details of the Bangkok Hilton in which Katrina is imprisoned. And then dad pops back into the picture.

Like I said, the film changes tones very starkly during its long running time - it was actually a miniseries. And Nicole Kidman shows what made her a star. Even before Tom Cruise, Nicole had the muse.

Granted, the first 20 minutes are somewhat boring, but from there, the film just takes off! A brilliant story (and the basis of films like Breakdown Palace) sets this off from the beginning to the very end.

Nicole Kidman's performance and transformation from a quiet, shy country girl into a tough, cunning prisoner is incredible and so well-done.

Bravo to the actors, producers, directors, to EVERYONE involved in BANGKOK HILTON! Well worth a watch for everybody who likes drama, action, thrillers, romance and for everybody who doesn't!

This is the ultimate TV mini-series. Everything is right. The story, the acting, the filming, the length, the locations, what not?

It looks as if even the prison scenes have been filmed in a real Thai prison, although one might doubt if permission would have been given for that by the Thai authorities if the script was known to them. All the other Bangkok scenes are definitely filmed on real locations. Also the airport scenes. They were definitely filmed at Bangkok Airport. I can guarantee this, knowing the place well. In this series Nicole Kidman broke through as an actress and she would deserve an Oscar, if there were one for this category (TV movies). Her acting is so perfectly natural and it looks as if she is going through the events herself, like in a documentary. One seldom sees such superior acting in a TV mini-series. All the locations have been chosen extremely well. I happen to know Bangkok quite well and I would not have been able to suggest any better locations. The movie last for about 4.5 hours, but this is not one minute too long. One needs every scene in the movie and it never bores. One can hardly believe that 4.5 hours have passed when the end credits appear. Time flies and if one looks at a video or DVD version it is impossible to interrupt it.

This one clearly shows that a TV mini-series can be of high quality and can be far superior to a movie, made for theaters. We can be happy that there is a DVD version (at least there is one in Europe). Everybody will want to see this one more than once. Superior work from Australia! Without any hesitation: 10/10!